Peter Hoskin

Gordon in the U.S.A

The idea is for Brown to take America by storm – to reinvigorate the special relationship, and all that. However, it’s not started well. Our Prime Minister’s had a few transportation issues, and the Pope’s stolen his thunder in a major way.

 

And today – just to confirm that he’s no natural statesman – Brown writes a painfully dull article in the Wall Street Journal. It reads like the appendix to one of his Budgets – a six-step plan to a “renewed and extended” relationship between the UK and US. Here are some of those steps: 

“First, I am proposing moving cooperation between our universities at a far higher level…   Fourth, building on well-established traditions of U.K.-U.S. collaboration … I am proposing that we strengthen even further our cooperation in health research…   Fifth, by working together our two countries could make a huge difference in dealing with the impact of climate change. Britain’s new Energy Technologies Institute – set up to do path-breaking, low-carbon research and development – is ready to link up with U.S.

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