The ‘security protocol’ Joe Biden ignored after landing in Cornwall for G7 summit
Watch moment US President Joe Biden arrives in Cornwall.
The Mayor of Newquay was among the first people to meet US President Joe Biden after he arrived in Cornwall for the G7 summit.
Mr Biden and his wife Jill touched down at Cornwall Airport Newquay late at night on Wednesday 9 June.
The President - making his first trip abroad since being elected - was met on the runway by a number of UK representatives, including Newquay mayor Louis Gardner.
Mr Gardner said the 78-year-old was “really warm and friendly”, and stopped to shake hands with everybody - despite this not being the planned protocol.
‘Never expected to happen’
"It was something I never expected to happen - to find myself alongside the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, welcoming Joe Biden to Newquay,” the mayor told ITV News West Country.
"He was really warm and friendly. We had had a rehearsal the day before with someone from the US Embassy and were told 'Don't expect him to shake hands, he'll walk past you' - but he ignored all that.
“We shook hands and he couldn't have been more friendly.”
The President was due to fly in a helicopter from the airport to Carbis Bay Hotel, where the G7 Summit 2021 will be held, but thick fog meant he had to go in his motorcade - made up of 21 cars.
Mr Gardner added: "He apologised for not being able to see more of the Cornish coast because of the fog when they flew in and I welcomed him on behalf of the people of Newquay and Cornwall.
“It was a surreal moment - but one I will remember for the rest of my life."
The G7 is an organisation made up of the world's seven richest countries.
They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Russia joined in 1998, creating the "G8", but was excluded in 2014 for its takeover of Crimea.
The summit will formally begin on Friday 11 June.
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