Update: Formal Response From the British Embassy

Received this very polite reply yesterday from the “Public Affairs Team” (part of the British Embassy…  pat@britainusa.com) concerning my apology for President Obama’s boorish behavior towards the Right Honorable Gordon Brown and his family…

Dear Alan Speakman:

Thank you for your email. We appreciate your comments on the importance of the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

We believe that the Prime Minister had an excellent visit. He and the President had a friendly and very productive exchange, spending two hours together in the White House. It was also a great honour for the Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of the two houses of Congress.

In their private conversation and in their comments to the media, both President Obama and the Prime Minister were enthusiastic about the special relationship between the US and the UK, and their commitment to maintaining and strengthening it. As the President said, “Great Britain is one of our closest, strongest allies. And there is a link, a bond there that will not break… that’s true not only on the economic front, but also on issues of common security.”

Thank you again for writing.

Regards,
The Public Affairs Team
British Embassy
Washington, DC

www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk

Very kind words indeed, and I thank the Public Affairs Team at the British Embassy for them. But the issue still hangs out there… How difficult would it be to treat the PM with just a  bit more than a modicum of respect? A quick Google shows that the Prime Minister is a tennis fan. Would it have been too much to fly in one of the Williams sisters replete with a few signed tennis rackets? He probably would have appreciated that. Perhaps a donation in his name to cystic fibrosis research… I don’t know…

Look, I know everyone wants to move on, and that’s more than fine for me. But it just seems that we Yanks could have done a better job of hosting a friend.

Alan Speakman