How's that "special relationship" between the UK and US? On a first-name basis, apparently.
In the Oval Office today, Gordon Brown and Barack Obama talked about financial regulatory reform, Iran, Russia -- and tennis and basketball.
Brown also became the first foreign leader to refer to the US president by his first name in his presence, in public.
Brown and Obama were in the Oval Office answering questions from a small group of US and British reporters about the economy and the state of US-UK relations.
Q: Prime Minister, your chancellor has said overnight that it is our collective responsibility, all of us have to have the humility to accept that over the last few years things have got out of alignment. Is that a form of apology from the government? Are you apologizing for the problems that there have been over the past 10 years in the financial system?PRIME MINISTER BROWN: Well, there's got to be deep regulatory change. We've just been talking, Barack and I, about the need for proper supervision of shadow banking systems, of areas where there was bank practices that were unacceptable, where remuneration policies got out of hand and weren't based on long-term success, but on short-term deals. And these are the changes that we've already announced that we are going to make.
My ears perked up at this. Obama's supporters frequently refer to him as Barack, but it was jarring to hear the name in that context, with Brown's deep Scottish inflection.
Obama reciprocated the gesture. Speaking about regulatory reform, he said, "that's the kind of transformation that we're obviously trying to bring about here in the United States, and I suspect that that's a view that Gordon shares."
The two called each other out onto the court (both tennis and basketball):
PRIME MINISTER BROWN: I've enjoyed every conversation that we've had, both on the telephone and when we've met. I don't think I could ever compete with you at basketball -- perhaps tennis.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Tennis, I hear you got a game.
PRIME MINISTER BROWN: Yes, we could maybe have a --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We haven't tried it yet.
PRIME MINISTER BROWN: I don't know if you -- I think you'd be better. But there we are.
And at one point, Obama seemed about to touch the prime minister on the arm, and instead let his fingers hover an inch or two above Brown's sleeve.
Let's hope the two leaders can coordinate defence policy with as much warmth. Do these little endearments signal anything about US-UK (or Brown-Obama, at least) relations? What do you think?
