July 15, 2007 David Miliband, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, insisted on Sunday that the UK’s commitment to working with the Bush administration is “resolute” and the Brown administration is not seeking to cool relations with the United States. After some confusion involving two ministers suggesting the “Brown government would adopt a new and more hostile approach to Washington”, Mr Miliband said “the British national interest is best served by a strong relationship with the United States”.
One of the two ministers who made the remarks, Lord Malloch Brown, further triggered tensions in an interview he gave over the weekend, suggesting the UK and US would “no longer be joined at the hip”. Miliband smoothed things over when asked on BBC television whether the Brown government was going to change the UK’s tone in dealings with the US, Mr. Miliband said: “No. Straight answer to a straight question. We have a strong new leader in the United Kingdom. He is going to be a valued partner with the United States. He’s going to work very closely with President Bush. That’s the right thing to do.”
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