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| Europe |
| Bush to make pre-election visit to UK, in Jan/Feb '05 |
| 2004-11-14 |
| The President is to come to London in three months' time, reciprocating Tony Blair's trip to Washington last week. Mr Bush's visit, likely to be part of a wider tour of European countries, will pose a problem for the leaders of both main parties as they gear up for a poll expected to be held in or before May. For Mr Blair, the presence of the President carries the risk of costing him support among Labour voters implacably opposed to Britain's involvement in the American-led campaign in Iraq. The visit will also put Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, on the spot because it will reopen the row between the Tory high command and the White House over Mr Howard's attacks on Mr Blair over his decision to go to war in Iraq. Karl Rove, Mr Bush's closest adviser, is reported to have told Mr Howard's aides two months ago: "You can forget about him meeting the President." Last week, in an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Howard refused to express pleasure on Mr Bush's re-election and added: "I am not going to be told by the White House how to do my job." With an election looming, protocol dictates that Mr Bush would have to meet the Tory leader as well as the Prime Minister, even though he last week declared himself a firm political supporter of Mr Blair, calling him a "big thinker" and a "rock-solid leader". It is indeed a funny old world... The Telegraph understands that Mr Bush's trip is likely to be centred on meeting leaders both in the European Union and Nato countries. The official said: "The President has made it clear that he wants to work with the EU and with Nato. We wanted to send a very early signal to Europe that we are going to be coming there and that we want to work with Europe." |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #3 I thought Tony was going to call a snap election for February. It's been rumoured, Mrs D, but most pundits still think May 1st is the probable date. I'm guessing a Bush visit in late winter makes a February election even more unlikely. I doubt Blair would gamble that Bush's presence would help him win more votes. Possible, but I doubt it. Bush certainly has his admirers over here, but, like most of the rest of the world, he has a fair few more detractors. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-11-14 10:50:24 AM |
| #2 BD, I thought Tony was going to call a snap election for February. If he does after this visit, I'd have to say he's got basketballs and a good chance at citizenship like Winnie's. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-14 10:03:48 AM |
| #1 Ah the smell of irony on a Sunday morn. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-14 9:21:10 AM |