President Obama’s recent criticisms of “British Petroleum” have created the critical distance between the US administration and the new British government that is necessary to ensure a “realistic, practical and sensible” relationship between the two countries, blogs Jonathan Rugman
British officials are trying to play down two issues ahead of this visit- the release from Scotland of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, which has enraged the US administration, and the BP oil spill off Louisiana.
Mr Cameron is expected to repeat his already often repeated view that the release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was a “mistake”, though this may not be enough to deter the US senate foreign relations committee from calling British witnesses from the Blair-Brown years to hearings scheduled to begin in Washington on 29 July.
BP is a related issue, because the Americans have accused the company of lobbying for Megrahi’s release to help them win Libyan contracts.
Cameron’s responsibility to BP probably lies no further than reminding his American hosts that the company is a US employer, and that it should not be driven into the arms of a US takeover bid by politically motivated attacks.
The Cameron government has spoken with apparent detachment about a pragmatic – rather than fawning – relationship with the US. “Realistic, practical and sensible” are the Downing Street watchwords, though Obama’s general coolness and his recent criticism of “British Petroleum” have probably created all the critical distance that both sides need.