U.S.-British relations may be cooling off

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 15, 2007

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LONDON - Britain's "special relationship" with the United States could be cooling, as a senior government official said that new Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Bush would not be "joined at the hip."

But Britain's new foreign secretary dismissed talk that the relationship had changed.

Lord Malloch Brown - a Foreign Office minister and former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations - said in a Daily Telegraph interview published Saturday that Britain needs a more "impartial" foreign policy.

"You need to build coalitions which are lateral, which go beyond the bilateral blinkers of the normal partners," Malloch Brown told the Telegraph. "My hope is that foreign policy will become much more impartial."

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's close relationship with Bush caused tension across Britain. Blair was sharply criticized for eagerly joining the U.S.-led Iraq war.

However, Foreign Secretary David Miliband stressed in a commentary published today that the United States remains Britain's strongest ally despite a change in leadership.