Britain's Blair to Seek U.S. Aid on Africa

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Britain's prime minister meets at the White House today with President Bush. Tony Blair wants the president to do more to fight poverty in Africa and global warming. Blair is not expected to succeed as NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from London.

ANTHONY KUHN reporting:

When it comes to the issues of aid to Africa and global warming, Tony Blair's speeches take on a tone of intense personal conviction. That goes as well for his finance minister, Gordon Brown, who spoke yesterday in Edinburgh about his visits with impoverished African families.

Mr. GORDON BROWN (Finance Minister, England): We talk of children and their life chances and I just met a child that had none.

KUHN: Blair and Brown propose doubling international aid to Africa and waiving interest payments on the poorest countries' debt. They compare the effort to the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild post-war Europe.

Mr. BROWN: If we could together help, not one or two or 10, but hundreds, then thousands, then hundreds of thousands and millions, of children--if we could with all the power at our command, working together, collectively change the way people see poverty, then what a different world this could be.

KUHN: The Bush administration has publicly questioned whether Blair's African plan will get the aid to the people who need it. It doubts the scientific evidence of global warming and shuns the Kyoto protocol on carbon dioxide emissions. Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook says getting Washington to change direction will be tough.

Mr. ROBIN COOK (Former Foreign Secretary, England): I don't think anybody realistically expects that President Bush will sign up to Kyoto. What we do need to hear from him, though, is how in other ways the United States can come in and play its part in cutting back on emissions of the greenhouse gases and stabilizing the climate change. After all, a quarter of all greenhouse emissions come from the United States. It's simply not possible to achieve the stability in the world climate without it.

KUHN: Still, international relations expert Michael Cox, of the London School of Economics, says that Blair's international image might actually benefit from a little trans-Atlantic difference of opinion.

Mr. MICHAEL COX (London School of Economics): In fact, you might be quite cynical and say that some disagreement with Bush over Kyoto, over Africa, might serve Blair's purpose rather well because at least he can now say `I have clear leadership credentials on these two big issues. Bush won't go with me. I shall lead alone, but don't ever call me a poodle again. Don't ever say I'm an American lap dog.'

KUHN: With Gordon Brown poised to succeed him after his third and final term in office, Blair is in legacy-building mode. He'll be in good building position in the coming months when he assumes the presidencies of both the G8 group of industrialized nations and the European Union.

John Rentoul is a political columnist with The Independent newspaper and the author of a book on Blair. He says French and Dutch voters' recent rejection of a proposed new constitution for the EU also strengthens Blair's position.

Mr. JOHN RENTOUL (The Independent): Because the Franco-German leadership of Europe is now set back, Britain's position as a leading power in Europe is now much more secure and therefore, Tony Blair goes to Washington much more as a representative of the center of gravity of Europe.

KUHN: Blair survived last month's election, even though his support for the war in Iraq cost him much of his majority in Parliament. Rentoul says Blair's priorities could help him mend ties with is traditional Labor Party supporters.

Mr. RENTOUL: Africa was always an issue which he latched onto whenever he had trouble with his own party, because it's the sort of thing that left-wing members of the Labor Party in this country automatically assume is a good thing.

KUHN: When the leaders of the G8 meet in Gleneagle, Scotland, next month, protesters plan to converge on nearby Edinburgh to pressure the leaders to tackle poverty. Blair and Brown have signalled their support for the demonstrations, deflecting pressure away from themselves and onto Washington.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, London.

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