As it happens: G7 leaders arrive in Cornwall ahead of summit
World leaders from G7 countries are arriving in Britain ahead of the crucial summit to be held from today.
The meeting between the world’s seven largest so-called advanced economies will run until Sunday, covering a range of issues including Covid recovery, climate change and trade.
Several G7 leaders have already taken to Twitter upon arrival in Cornwall.
Boris Johnson will host leaders from the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada, as well as Australia, India, South Africa, and South Korea, who have been invited as guest countries.
In an article written by Johnson today, he said that the shared agenda of the nations is to “overcome the pandemic, minimise the risk of any recurrence and build back better after this tragedy”.
US President Joe Biden will be using the trip to shore up transatlantic alliances and stress the need for the world’s democracies to stand together during the Covid recovery.
Biden was expected to share his views on the Brexit row over Northern Ireland, but his administration stepped in yesterday, saying that the president was ‘not here to lecture Boris Johnson’.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Cornwall yesterday waving his country’s flag from the exit of his jet.
Trudeau is attending his fifth G7 summit, and is expected to stress the need for climate change action over the weekend.
European Union representatives are present in Cornwall, in the form of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen insisted on Thursday that Boris Johnson must abide by the “rule of law” when it comes to Brexit, an issue that could rain on the prime minister’s parade.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, will also be in attendance.
In a speech alongside Ursula von der Leyen yesterday, Michel said the EU will team up with leading democracies on vaccines and economic recovery.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga arrived in Cornwall in the early hours of this morning.
Suga’s agenda is likely to focus on tackling the coronavirus pandemic and discussing China’s growing economic and military influence.