LONDON/EDINBURGH: London Mayor Boris Johnson has accused US President Barack Obama of hypocrisy for supporting those who want Britain to stay in the European Union.

Speaking just days before the American leader travels to London, Johnson told the BBC there is no way the United States would share sovereignty the way EU membership requires.

It would be hypocritical of President Obama to support Britain staying in the European Union because Washington would never share its own sovereignty, the London mayor said on Saturday.

Obama has voiced support through aides for the UK remaining in the EU. But the White House has suggested that during his visit the president will stress that it is up to the British people to decide their future in a June 23 referendum.

Johnson says that while Obama has the “perfect right to make any intervention he likes,” it is “nakedly hypocritical” to lend his weight to the campaign to stay in the EU.

Obama is expected to back Prime Minister David Cameron with a show of support for Britain keeping its EU membership on a visit to London next week ahead of an in-out vote on June 23.

Polls show the referendum, with important implications for trade and Britain’s status in the world, could be a close call.

“I just find it absolutely bizarre that we are being lectured by the Americans about giving up our sovereignty, when the Americans wouldn’t even sign up to the international law of the sea, let alone the International Criminal Court,” Johnson, who supports a British exit from the EU, told the BBC.