PR-friendly Pope steals Brown’s US thunder

Gordon Brown's three day trip to the US - billed by Downing Street as the most important of his Premiership – is turning into the mother of all damp squibs. As predicted by The First Post yesterday, it is Pope Benedict XVI, paying his first trip to the US since being elected three years ago, who is stealing all the media coverage.

It couldn't be more depressing for GB. While the pontiff's photo has been on the front pages of the New York Times and Washington Post every day this week, Brown has yet to warrant a mention in either. Even his visit to the White House, which takes place tomorrow, will be superseded by a bells and whistles visit by the Pope today. Against competition like that, Brown will be lucky to get a paragraph in the Albuquerque Courier.

But the biggest diary clash occurs on Friday, when Brown is to make a major speech on foreign policy. On that day the Pope will address the UN general assembly.

So how did this PR disaster come about? British officials disclosed yesterday that they weren't aware of the Pope's plans to visit the US when a date for a meeting for the PM's meeting with George Bush was fixed. Apparently it was days before they discovered that it would coincide with the Pope's visit. By then it was too late. An official said: "We knew early on that the visit clashed with the Pope. There was no suggestion of moving it."

Brown's best chance for US-wide publicity now will be his meetings on Thursday with the three presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain. Thankfully, the Pope has not arranged to meet any of them - yet.