Obama inauguration: Gordon Brown to 'work closely' with new President

Published on Tuesday 20 January 2009 13:03

GORDON Brown today told ministers he aims to work very closely with incoming US president Barack Obama on issues ranging from the economic crisis to the environment, the Middle East peace process and Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister is writing a letter to Mr Obama, congratulating him on entering office and assuring him that Britain "stands ready to work very closely with his administration on many of the international challenges that we face", Mr Brown's spokesman told reporters.

At the regular weekly Cabinet meeting in Downing Street this morning, Mr Brown told ministers that the Government shares "many of the same values" as Mr Obama and has adopted a very similar approach on the global economic downturn.

The spokesman said he was not sure whether the Prime Minister will be able to watch the inauguration and Mr Obama's first speech as president live on television, but said he would certainly try to see at least part of it at some point today.

Briefing reporters on the Cabinet meeting, Mr Brown's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of working very closely with the incoming US administration.

"He said the Government shared many of the same values of President Obama and his team, and is adopting a very similar approach to the positions that the incoming president has been setting out on some of the big global challenges that we face – first and foremost, the economy, where Britain and America are taking similar action to deal with problems in the credit and financial market, and taking a similar approach on fiscal policy."

Mr Brown's spokesman played down suggestions that the Prime Minister is in a race with other European leaders, such as French president Nicolas Sarkozy, to be the first to secure an invitation to visit Mr Obama at the White House.

While Tony Blair was the first European leader to visit Mr Obama's predecessor George Bush in the US following his 2001 inauguration, it was France's Jacques Chirac – a fierce critic of Mr Bush's war in Iraq – who was the first to meet him after he was sworn in for the second time in 2005, when the two presidents held talks in Brussels.

Mr Brown's spokesman told reporters: "I would remind you that George Bush's first meeting with a European leader was with President Chirac of France, so we wouldn't attach too much importance to who has what meetings when.

"The important thing is whether or not you share the same values and have similar approaches and are able to work together on challenges."

Mr Brown told the Cabinet that his Government and Mr Obama's administration "share a very similar view on the role of the environment", said the spokesman.

And he added: "We will want to work very closely with the Obama administration on the Middle East, on Iraq and on Afghanistan.

"On the Middle East, we share support for the two-state solution and want to work with the US administration and others for a successful ceasefire."

Asked whether Mr Brown would watch the inauguration live on TV this afternoon, the spokesman said: "He is very focused on doing his job as British Prime Minister.

"I'm sure he will try to find an opportunity to listen to some or all of it, whether live or later in the day."

Live blog (2-6pm GMT): The inauguration of Barack Obama