British Prime Minister endorses ÔÇ£special relationshipÔÇØ with US

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Gordon Brown became only the fifth British Prime Minister to address both Houses of Congress on Capitol Hill yesterday, delivering a stirring speech full of praise for the ÔÇ£special relationshipÔÇØ between the two countries, while also urging the US and others not to retreat into protectionism.   Following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, the Prime Minister earned 17 standing ovations during a speech full of praise for the ÔÇ£American spirit.ÔÇØ He described the relationship between the UK and the US as ÔÇ£a partnership of purposeÔÇØ which was ÔÇ£unbreakable,ÔÇØ affirming that ÔÇ£there is no power on earth that can drive us apart.ÔÇØ   On the global financial crisis, Brown said that ÔÇ£an economic hurricane has swept the world, creating a crisis of credit and of confidence.ÔÇØ   Referring to the financial sector, he said: ÔÇ£We have learned through this world downturn that markets should be free but never values-free, that the risks people take should never be separated from the responsibilities they meet,ÔÇØ before pausing for one of the standing ovations.   In the global economy, he pointed out, ÔÇ£today's financial institutions are so interwoven that a bad bank anywhere is a threat to good banks everywhere,ÔÇØ using this as the link to his warning against protectionism.   Calling for all countries of the world to work together (but clearly implying that the United States and the UK should take the lead) he said: ÔÇ£Let us agree rules and standards for accountability, transparency, and reward that will mean an end to the excesses and will apply to every bank, everywhere, and all the time.ÔÇØ   The burden must be shared globally, he said, ÔÇ£so let us work together for the worldwide reduction of interest rates and a scale of stimulus round the world equal to the depth of the recession and the dimensions of the recovery we must make.   ÔÇ£Let us restore prosperity and protect this planet and, with faith in the future, let us together build tomorrow today,ÔÇØ he concluded.   Barack ObamaÔÇÖs presidency is too young to expect him to agree entirely with the UK before having sounded out opinion from elsewhere in Europe and further afield. The President himself commented after the Prime MinisterÔÇÖs speech that the US had ÔÇ£only just begun to engage with the ideas that are coming from Gordon Brown, let alone agree to them.ÔÇØ   But the Prime MinisterÔÇÖs very presence on Capitol Hill yesterday was a significant platform for his ideas. The world, after all, was watching.     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *