Not so big after all? Brown snubbed by Obama
GORDON Brown was left red-faced today after he was snubbed by new American president Barack Obama – at their first formal meeting.
The prime minister arrived in the US today expecting a full press conference in front of the world’s media to mark the event.
But he touched down on America soil to be told by the White House that it would be a much more scaled down affair - in the Oval Office.
The embarrassment for Downing Street comes after Obama sent a bust of Sir Winston Churchill back to Britain - despite it enjoying pride of place in the Oval Office for nearly 10 years.
Today White House authorities defended the schedule change for the two leaders, claiming the new arrangement was 'more intimate'.
But it was widely seen as a snub to the British premier - with journalists from both countries crammed between sofas in the small room as they struggled to ask questions.
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Despite the snub, during the meeting itself, Mr Obama denied claims he wanted to 'water-down' the special relationship between the two countries.
The president even pointed out that his mother’s family originally came from Britain, adding: “This notion that somehow there is any lessening of that special relationship is misguided.”
He added: “The relationship is not only special and strong but will only get stronger as time goes on.”
Mr Brown became the first European leader to hold talks with Mr Obama since his inauguration in January.
The meeting, followed by a working lunch, comes ahead of the G20 summit of leading economies being hosted in London by Mr Brown on April 2, when he hopes to seal agreement on a common response to the global banking crisis.
During today’s talks, Mr Brown called for a “global new deal” which would see the world’s biggest economies agree on a new regulatory system for banks, fiscal stimulus packages to boost growth and action to deal with “shadow banks” and regulatory and tax havens.
Mr Obama said he wanted the April summit to look at how the G20 countries can “in a co-ordinated fashion, stimulate their economies” and ensure that there is a common front in making progress on banking.
The president cautioned that there would be no swift solution to the global economic crisis. But he held out the hope that co-ordinated action can get the world back on the path to prosperity.
“All of these steps, I think, are going to slowly build confidence but it is not going to happen yet,” he said.
“We together have dug a very deep hole for ourselves. There were a lot of bad decisions that were made. We are cleaning up that mess.
“There are going to be fits and starts in getting the mess cleaned up but it is going to get cleaned up and we will emerge more prosperous, more unified and more protected from systemic risks.”
Mr Obama also had warm words for Mr Brown, whom he was meeting for the third time, but the first time as president, saying the two of them had a “shared world view”.
“I would like to think that our relationship is good and I am sure he won’t dispute that,” he said.
“I think that the Prime Minister has taken the helm of the British economy at a very difficult time... I think there are a set of shared values and shared assumptions between us.”
