Downing Street Says » US Relations/Policy

» Thursday, November 4, 2004

US Relations/Policy

Asked what the Prime Minister could point to as the benefit of his relationship with President Bush, the PMOS answered that in terms of a working relationship with President Bush, whether it was in Afghanistan, Iraq, or on other issues, the Government had never adopted a "tick box culture" that said something was "their" idea or "our" idea, nor would they start now. The important thing was that there was a continuing conversation that worked towards communal objectives. The Prime Minister believed that this was possible.

Asked if the Prime Minister was going to put a message out to the EU leaders in Brussels to rally round President Bush, the PMOS replied that the re-election of the President would no doubt be discussed at some point, and that the Prime Minister saw this as a chance to rebuild the relationship across the Atlantic. He thought it would be better for the discussion to take place before talking about it. He added that everyone now knew that President Bush was in power for four years, and they would work with that fact.

Asked if the Prime Minister believed he had a unique part in rebuilding the bridge, the PMOS answered that as the Prime Minister had said, Britain had always placed a special significance on the relationship with the United States, and it was the duty of any UK Prime Minster to maintain and strengthen that special relationship. He added that everything the Prime Minister had done had been with that in mind, and that would continue to be the case in the future. He repeated that President Bush and the Prime Minister do have a strong relationship and that they continued to have regular conversations to secure continued, shared, objectives.

Asked if President Bush and the Prime Minister were planning to meet soon, the PMOS said he did not know of any definite plans at this time.

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