President and prime minister strike different chords, showing how Anglo-American special relationship is rarely a love-in
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Barack Obama held up the relationship between Franklin D Roosevelt, left, and Winston Churchill as a sign of the enduring strength of the Anglo-American alliance. But it was never plain sailing. Photograph: AP
Barack Obama today anticipated the inevitable "split" stories that are written whenever a US president stops off in Britain. This is what Obama said when he became the first US president to address MPs and peers in Westminster Hall:
I come here today to reaffirm one of the oldest, one of the strongest alliances the world has ever known. It's long been said that the United States and the United Kingdom share a special relationship. And since we also share an especially active press corps, that relationship is often analysed and over-analysed for the slightest hint of stress or strain.
So were any differences highlighted today, the busiest day of Obama's two day state visit to Britain? Yes and no is the best answer.
There are three areas where Obama and Cameron struck different chords. But a brief examination of the background to each issue shows there is no Ted Heath / Richard Nixon frostiness to the relationship just as there is no Margaret Thatcher / Ronald Reagan love-in.
These are the three areas where the Anglo-American alliance is not in complete harmony.
Libya
In one key remark at their joint press conference in the Lancaster House garden Obama appeared to set himself at odds with Anglo-French plans to send Apache attack helicopters to Libya when he said:
I think that there may be a false perception that there are a whole bunch of secret super-effective air assets that are in a warehouse somewhere that could just be pulled out and that would somehow immediately solve the situation in Libya. That's not the case.
But the differences run deeper than Apache helicopters. There is frustration in Europe that Obama has declined to put the full force of the US military at the disposal of Nato in the Libyan operation.
Background to Libya. This shows why these differences do not amount to a rift. Britain completely understands why Obama is reluctant to launch a Donald Rumsfeld-style "shock and awe" operation in Libya. The president wants Europe to take greater responsibility in its backyard and he wants to show that the US will act with care in the Muslim world.
Israel
In some of his most significant remarks at the Lancaster House press conference, Obama insisted it would be a "mistake" for the Palestinian authority to make a unilateral declaration of independence at the UN general assembly in September. This is different to the position of Britain which, as I blogged recently, may support such a declaration by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
Cameron struck a slightly different tone to Obama today when he said the time was not right for such a declaration. But he indicated Britain has an open mind when he said:
We want to discuss this within the European Union and try and maximize the leverage and pressure that the European Union can bring, frankly, on both sides to get this vital process moving.
Background to Israel. Britain has absolutely no difficulty with Obama's opposition to a possible Palestinian declaration. Far from it. Britain believes that Obama showed courage last week when he said that a future Palestinian state should based on the border that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Deficit reduction
There was great excitement in the Labour party about whether Obama would indicate unease about the pace of deficit reduction in Britain. The coalition has pledged to eliminate the structural deficit over the course of this parliament.
Obama balanced his message with great care as he handed sweeties to both Labour and the coalition:
• Sweeties for Labour. Obama said that the G20 had achieved its first goal set at the summit hosted by Gordon Brown in 2009. This was to "yank the world economy out of recession". That was achieved by the Keynesian fiscal stimulus hailed by Brown and criticised by the Tories. The president added that the next challenge – to stimulate growth – demands "investments in education, science, technology, infrastructure". That sounds more like the fiscal stimulus championed by Ed Balls rather than the monetary stimulus championed by George Osborne.
• Sweeties for the Tories. Obama said governments needs to "live within their means"; the "sequencing or pace" of deficit reduction will vary from country to country; it would be wrong to "mortgage our futures and leave a mountain of debt to future generations"; failing government programmes should be cut; and there needs to be a "match between money going out and money coming in".
Background to deficit reduction. Downing Street was supremely relaxed by Obama's remarks. They believe the coalition has a strong argument to deflect Labour's attempt to contrast Britain's decision to start implementing its deficit reduction programme this year with Obama's decision to wait a year. Unlike the US, Britain does not have a reserve currency.
Obama sought to highlight the enduring nature of the Anglo-American alliance in his speech by recalling the days when Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt "could sit in a room and solve the world's problems over a glass of brandy". But their relationship showed how the alliance waxes and wanes.
The picture of the two war leaders at the top of this blog was taken on board HMS Prince of Wales during the Atlantic Conference off Newfoundland in August 1941. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed, but did not sign, the Atlantic Charter which called for the "disarmament of aggressor nations and a postwar common disarmament". But even Churchill could not persuade the US to join the war. That only happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 which prompted Adolf Hitler to make one of his greatest mistakes four days later: declaring war on the US.