Love-struck Brown and Obama unveil own ‘special relationship’

After the love-in between Gordon Brown and Barack Obama at the Foreign Office this morning there's no surprise the Prime Minister was displaying a new spring in his step.

The meeting and subsequent press conference must have exceeded even his expectations. There may not be the sparky Blair-Bush rapport, but then these are two very different, and far more reserved characters.

The problem for the Opposition parties is that they desperately want some of the Obama magic dust to rub off on them but they can't find an easy way to elbow themselves onto the stage with him.

David Cameron has been successful in getting a meeting with the President. The Tories are saying they expect it to be half an hour long although one White House insider reckoned the President had pencilled an entire hour into his diary - cue Tory stories about how the men got on so well they over-ran.

But after this morning's performance there is no way Cameron will be able to suggest the relationship between the PM and the new President is anything other than special.

Obama actually used the phrase "special relationship" - something previous presidents have been reluctant to do - and he referred to Brown as his friend, praised his leadership in the world and, basically, love bombed him.

We also discovered that the new US President has something else in common with Gordon Brown - he can bore for his country when he wants to. Some of his answers were so lacklustre and lengthy the Mole found himself fighting heavy eyelids more than once. The fact Obama was clearly battling a heavy cold is no excuse.

THE MOLE: OBAMA VISIT

FIRST POSTED APRIL 1, 2009