Obama’s UK visit gives hope to Cameron

The prime minister hopes Obama will endorse his deficit-cutting strategy during his two-day state visit David Cameron is hopeful Barack Obama’s two-day state visit to the UK, formally starting on Tuesday, will end with the two leaders asserting they are aligned on tackling financial deficits. Any implicit endorsement of the government’s deficit reduction plan by the Democrat president would be a massive political prize for the Conservatives, helping to immunise the prime minister from some Labour attacks that the cuts go too fast and too deep. Obama was expected to fly into London from Ireland last night ahead of schedule as a precaution to avoid being trapped by volcanic ash, throwing a protocol-conscious Buckingham Palace into turmoil. The bulk of the political talks will focus on foreign affairs including Afghanistan, Libya and the Arab Spring, but the two men will also discuss the world economy, an area in which Obama has shifted recently closer to the UK position. Conservatives are hoping on the basis of talks with the White House that Obama will say he is aligned with Britain on the economy. In a joint article published last night, Obama and Cameron said: “When the United States and Britain stand together, our people and people around the world can become more secure and more prosperous. “And that is the key to our relationship. Yes, it is founded on a deep emotional connection, by sentiment and ties of people and culture. But the reason it thrives, the reason why this is such a natural partnership, is because it advances our common interests and shared values. “It is a perfect alignment of what we both need and what we both believe. And the reason it remains strong is because it delivers time and again. Ours is not just a special relationship, it is an essential relationship – for us and for the world.” The joint article also refers to the need to tackle deficits. Privately, Conservative sources are increasingly confident that the Treasury and its American counterpart are now seeing eye to eye on deficit reduction after being at odds for some months. They believe the US treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, has formed a close relationship with the chancellor, George Osborne. In April, Obama laid out plans to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, a pace of deficit reduction that the Conservatives claim is similar to the UK’s deficit goals. The British plan aims to cut the deficit from 11.1% of gross domestic product in 2009-2010 to 1.5% of GDP in 2015-2016. Under the US president’s plan, public-sector borrowing will fall from 10.9% of GDP this year to 3.3% in 2016. The US plan starts later, but aims to achieve the same pace of reduction, using the same proportionate mix of tax rises and spending cuts. During a triumphant visit to Ireland, Obama gave a shot in the arm to the morale of a country buffeted by economic troubles. Obama visited the village of Moneygall, from where one of his ancestors, Falmouth Kearney, emigrated to the US in 1850, and hailed the Northern Ireland peace process. The Queen’s visit to Ireland last week had sent, he said, “a ‘ripple of hope’ that may manifest itself in a whole range of ways”. Barack Obama David Cameron Public finance Public sector cuts Public services policy Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.