PM to boost relations with US in key foreign policy speech

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Nov 12, 2007, 11:24 GMT

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown prepares to lay a wreath at the Remembrance Sunday service held at the Cenotaph on London\'s Whitehall, Britain, 11 November 2007. EPA/RICHARD LEWIS

(M&C) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to use a key address to repair his relationship with the Bush administration.

Mr Brown is expected to say at the annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in Guildhall, that the US is Britain's most important ally. He is expected to attempt to end speculation that, unlike previous PM Tony Blair, he is seeking a "cooler" relationship with the American leader.

In a television interview yesterday, Mr Brown said: “America is our most important ally, it always will be because of the values we share, and so it is central to how we conduct foreign policy."

"The great change that is taking place, that I think is to the advantage of everyone, is that France and Germany and the EU are also moving more closely with America. And I think that’s to the benefit of Britain, it’s to the benefit of the world.”

Mr Brown added the UK/US alliance was “incredibly important to the future of the world”.

The prime minister's move to repair relations coincides with attempts by French and German leaders to improve relations with the US and comes at a time when senior Washington figures are concerned at apparent attempts by the Brown government to distance itself from the Bush administration.