Blair arrives for Bush talks

13 April 2012

Tony Blair arrived today in Washington for crunch talks with President George Bush to try to seal a deal on aid for Africa and climate change ahead of next month's Gleneagles G8 summit.

No 10 have tried to damp down expectations of an agreement, with Mr Blair spending less than two hours in White House talks with Mr Bush this afternoon.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the Middle East peace process, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Bush has been reported to be hostile both to Chancellor Gordon Brown's plans for an International Finance Facility (IFF) to scrap Third World debt via the bond markets and a target to curb harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The US is said to favour a technology-based solution to climate change, and says its own budget process won't let it comply with Mr Brown's complex African debt relief programme.

Mr Blair's visit has also been clouded by a controversy over his wife Cherie's speaking engagement in Washington last night where she was said to have earned £30,000 from a talk billed as the inside account of "the First Lady of Downing Street".

No 10 insist Mrs Blair's programme is separate from the premier's and she will not be travelling back with him tonight.

But speculation that there might be some tie-in with the visits was fuelled last night when Mr Blair's official spokesman was asked whether the two would meet up and replied: "It's a matter for the White House to talk about any invitations the White House issues."

A White House spokesman said last night: "I'm not aware of anything, but you are right, there's a great relationship there (with First Lady Laura Bush) and everyone's schedules are being taken a look at."

Mr Blair, who last visited Washington in November shortly after President Bush's re-election, is also expected to discuss issues such as Iraq, the Middle East peace process and Afghanistan in his afternoon talks.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman warned against prejudging the Gleneagles gathering on the basis of tomorrow's talks.

"This visit is part of the preparation for Gleneagles, not Gleneagles itself," he said.

"So we are not expecting ... to see the final US position. That will come at Gleneagles."

There are "large areas where we are in agreement with the US - we both agree that Africa is a priority", the spokesman insisted.

"We also both agree that the starting point is what Africa needs and we agree without the US that that assessment has to be about more than throwing money at the problem," he said.

In an interview for the Financial Times today, Mr Blair acknowledged that Britain will not get everything it would like from the US.

Mr Blair said: "There are certain things we know they are not going to do, that we are not asking them to do. We are not asking them to sign up to the IFF or 0.7% of (GDP) in aid. They are not going to do that and they've made that clear right from the very beginning.

"Neither are we asking them to reverse the position on Kyoto. There's no way the Americans are going to do that."

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