Britain first

Niall Ferguson says that Tony Blair and George W. Bush are perfect partners — Christian soldiers armed with Bibles and bazookas — but Britain now has more in common with Europe than with the United States

‘I kind of think that the decisions taken in the next few weeks will determine the rest of the world for years to come. As primary players, we have a chance to shape the issues that are discussed. Both of us will have enormous capital and a lot of people will be with us.’ — Tony Blair to George W. Bush, March 2003.

Barring some act of God — an authority both men are known regularly to consult — Tony Blair and George W. Bush are now safe. Politically (and what else matters?) they have survived the Iraq war. Their real-life partnership therefore seems set to enjoy a longer run than its damning dramatisation by David Hare, now playing to packed houses at the National Theatre. Stuff happens, has happened and will continue to happen — in Iraq. But nothing, it seems, can dent the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

It has been quite a comeback. Only a couple of months ago, many informed commentators were convinced that, having stood together over Iraq, the two leaders were doomed to fall together. Before the Republican convention, it still appeared perfectly possible that John Kerry could win November’s presidential election. Before the Cabinet reshuffle, it seemed only a matter of time before Gordon Brown made his long-awaited move next door.

Well, autumn is here and the hopes of Messrs Kerry and Brown are falling like leaves off the trees. Unscathed by the Democrats’ ill-judged attempt to campaign on John Kerry’s Vietnam record, Mr Bush is unabashedly marching to re-election as a ‘war president’.