It’s very unusual for George W Bush to meet opposition leaders but America’s President did meet David Cameron for thirty minutes earlier today, during his London visit. That’s a good sign of (a) the White House’s awareness of the Conservative Party’s ascendancy and (b) Much improved Tory-GOP relations.
William Hague, George Osborne and Pauline Neville-Jones accompanied the Conservative leader during at meeting at the US Ambassador’s London residence.
CCHQ has released the following statement from David Cameron:
“I had a very productive meeting with President Bush, taking forward some of the issues we discussed when we met in Washington last November.
I raised the situation in Zimbabwe, and the pressing need to do everything possible to prevent Mugabe from stealing the election. It is extremely important to make sure that independent observers have full access to the poll. We continued the discussion we had before about the importance of standing up for free trade.
I underlined the commitment of the Conservative Party to Britain’s role in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. I also raised with the President my concerns about the need for improved co-ordination of the civilian effort of the ground, and greater clarity and unity of purpose between the different military chains of command – in particular between the NATO-led International Security assistance Force (ISAF) and Operating Enduring Freedom.”
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Over the weekend we twice blogged about The Telegraph’s mischief-making re David Davis (here and here). The Telegraph’s take on the Bush-Cameron meeting, from Rosa Prince: Green David Cameron undermined by George W Bush meeting. A headline worthy of The Independent/ Guardian/ Mirror.
Related link: ToryDiary report on the first Cameron-Bush meeting, last November.