Across the pond

George Bush concluded his two-day visit to London by praising Gordon Brown to the hilt. It won’t help him. The demonstrations on the street, and the opinion polls, showed that neither man is popular with the electorate. This visit is definitely the symbolic end of the Buhs era and his ‘special relationship’ with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The chances of Brown surviving another two years are not high. And he may even be gone before Bush leaves the White House in November.

At times of change like this, although the leaders take centre stage, most of the important work of sorting out how to deal with Afghanistan and Iraq is done by ministers and the civil servants on both sides of the pond.

The Queen is probably looking forward to a change. She has always got well with black Afican leaders. Let’s hope she is still up to spin around the dance floor if Barack Obama is her visitor next year.