Brown enjoys Obama effect following week he would rather forget

Published on 26/07/2008 20:05

AT LEAST someone was willing to take a walk with him – in public – yesterday. Gordon Brown took some comfort from basking in the reflected glory of the hero of Berlin as they strolled in the Downing Street rose garden.

Wearing almost identical dark suits, white shirts and purplish ties, Brown and Barack Obama smiled for the cameras, shook hands and settled down in basket chairs for a tete-a-tete. Given last Thursday's by-election result, the US presidential candidate may have been pondering that if he is elected to the White House in November, the British Prime Minister could well have changed.

The Democratic party hopeful seemed relaxed as he walked to No 10, pausing briefly to shake the hands of two somewhat startled police officers standing near the door. He turned to television cameras, smiled, waved and said "Hello" before walking in. Brown greeted him just inside the door.

Obama, who last week received a rapturous welcome from a 200,000-strong crowd in the German capital, said he and the Prime Minister discussed a wide range of issues, such as climate change, terrorism and financial markets.

"The Prime Minister's emphasis – like mine – is on how we can strengthen the trans-Atlantic relationship to solve problems that can't be solved by any single country individually," he said. Whether Brown asked him for advice on how to become popular again was not recorded.