Obama talks up bond but fails to roll out red carpet

Gordon Brown was the first European leader invited to meet Barack Obama. Photo / AP

Barack Obama last night declared that Britain and America had a "bond that cannot be broken" and would move even closer together, as the two men spoke of the need to kick-start the world economy.

Following talks in the White House, the President gave his backing for an overhaul of the banking system and for a co-ordinated effort by the world's leading economies to spend their way out of recession.

The body language between the two leaders in their joint appearance in the Oval Office was respectful but not warm.

Although Brown won the race to be the first European leader to be invited to the White House, the Prime Minister was not permitted a large press conference. The two-hour slot he was offered contrasts with the red-carpet treatment that Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher enjoyed.

Yet Downing St will be relieved to have won an endorsement for his fiscal stimulus plans and hopes it will pave the way to an agreement by the leaders of the G20 group of major industrialised nations.

Obama dismissed suggestions that he was less committed than his predecessors to the much-vaunted "special relationship". "Great Britain is one of our closest and strongest allies and there is a link and bond there that will not break," he said. "That is true on the economic front but also on issues of common security."

The President pointed to the two countries' common language and culture as well as similar systems of law and government. "Rest assured," he added, "the relationship isn't only special and strong, but will only get stronger as time goes on."

The meeting mainly focused on combating the global economic crisis. Brown repeated his call for a "global new deal" with the biggest economies agreeing new controls on banks and tax havens, as well as fiscal stimulus packages. Obama agreed that "co-ordinated action" was required to stimulate the world's economies, but warned against hopes of an early end to the global downturn.

The President had encouraging words for Brown. "I would like to think our relationship is good. I'm sure he wouldn't dispute that in front of me," he joked.

"The Prime Minister has taken the helm of the British economy at a very difficult time. I have just come in, but I think there are a set of shared values and shared assumptions between us."

Obama added: "He also has a wonderful family, as I do. We can talk about our spectacular wives and our wonderful children.

The President struck an upbeat note, predicting that joint action on the economy would get the world back on the path to prosperity.

"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."

Obama and Brown listened intently to one another as they sat in blue-and-yellow antique armchairs before a painting of George Washington. Downing St had originally hoped for the men to appear shoulder to shoulder in the White House Rose Garden.

But heavy snowfall put paid to the plan and the White House decided to have no replacement. The announcement that a mere glorified photo-opportunity would instead be staged led to frenzied contact between the two governments.

The White House finally decided on a 20-minute "intimate press conference" in the Oval Office before about 40 journalists.

- INDEPENDENT