“I kind of see you guys as the knot tying the transatlantic alliance together, the closer you are with Europe, the more you’re engaged,” Biden said at the start of his first meeting with the new British PM.

Downing Street was quick to seize the moment. Summarizing the bilateral summit, a U.K. government spokesperson stressed that “the president welcomed the prime minister’s recent comments on establishing closer relationships with our European counterparts.”

In private, No. 10 was delighted with Biden’s comments, taken as justification for how quickly the new Labour…