He said the U.S. should help to protect the world’s poor, calling on America to join him in a global agreement to “solve” the financial crisis.
“I come now to talk of new and different battles we must fight together, to speak of a global economy in crisis and a planet imperilled,” he said. “I believe that you . . . are . . . the nation with the vision to protect and preserve our planet Earth.”
“Seeking to restore his battered reputation in Britain, Mr Brown, whose love of the US is well known, had travelled to Washington hoping to replicate the success enjoyed by his predecessor Tony Blair,” the Telegraph reported.
Thankfully, his appeal for spending more to alleviate the plight of the world’s poor, was less enthusiastically.
The Telegraph noted it was a “well-received speech” with “19 standing ovations, the same as Mr Blair when he addressed the same assembly six years ago after the invasion of Iraq.”
Brown, who did not make his usual claim that the economic crisis began in the U.S., heaped praise on American innovation. Climate change and a global stimulus were high on his agenda.
“I say we should seize the moment, because never before have I seen a world so willing to come together,” he said. “Never before has that been more needed, and never before have the benefits of co-operation been so far reaching.”
Brown said it was time to revive the visionary spirit of leaders such as FDR.
He said “that you, the American people, at your core, were, as you remain, every bit as optimistic as your Roosevelts, your Reagans and your Obamas.”
There is a move afoot and a sort of scandal in the U.K. That Brown has not and appears totally unwilling to “accept blame” and apologize for the economic problems experienced under his leadership. Of course, little, if any, good it will do. I have no idea why it is such a big deal there.
AJH