Brown arrives in US for Bush meeting

Updated 23.13 Sun Jul 29 2007

Keywords: foreign policy, britain, america, george bush, gordon brown

Gordon Brown has promised to build strong relations with America in his meeting with George Bush.

The Prime Minister has arrived in Washington for Camp David talks with the American president for the first time since he replaced Tony Blair.

"It is a relationship that is founded on our common values of liberty, opportunity and the dignity of the individual" - Gordon Brown

Before setting off, Mr Brown dismissed speculation that he will try to cool the relationship between the countries that led to criticism of Mr Blair.

Mr Brown said: "It is a relationship that is founded on our common values of liberty, opportunity and the dignity of the individual.

"And because of the values we share, the relationship with the United States is not only strong, but can become stronger in the years ahead."

Mr Brown has already ruffled some feathers in Washington with his appointment of former United Nations deputy secretary general Lord Malloch Brown as a foreign minister, because he is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration.

One of Mr Brown's closest allies, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, used a recent speech in Washington to suggest that Britain may want to pursue a different relationship with the US.

The resulting debate forced both Mr Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband to come out to say that the transatlantic partnership remained intact.

Mr Brown added: "We know that we cannot solve any of the world's major problems without the active engagement of the US.

"And just as Britain and America have always stood side by side in tackling the great global challenges of the past, so we will continue to work very closely together as friends to tackle the great global challenges of the future.

"The relationship between an American president and a British Prime Minister will always be strong, and I am looking forward to my meeting with President Bush to discuss how we can work together to meet many of the great challenges we face."

Following the talks with Mr Bush, Mr Brown will travel to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, where he will deliver a speech and meet UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.