THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The long-term relationship between Britain and America should not be jeopardised by a presidential response that has been more petulant than statesmanlike.
At some point this weekend, David Cameron is due to talk to Barack Obama on the phone, ahead of his visit to Washington next month. Until a few weeks ago, such a conversation would have involved a businesslike exchange of pleasantries and reflected a strong desire on both sides to place their personal relationship on a sound footing. No doubt that remains their intention; but the controversy over the way the President has castigated BP for its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has added a potentially serious edge to these exchanges.
Mr Obama's aggressively jingoistic rhetoric might have been designed to shore up his own domestic position against criticism that he has failed to act decisively enough, but it is now sabotaging the fortunes of what was until recently Britain's biggest company. Its share price fell to a 13-year low after the American government threatened legal action to prevent the payment of dividends before compensation payments had been met, even though BP is sitting on enough cash to do both. Since the firm accounts for £1 in every £6 paid in dividends in the United Kingdom, this will have a deleterious impact on pension funds, which have £20 billion wrapped up in the company. Read on and comment >>> | Thursday, June 10, 2010
