Brown speech gets ovations from Congress

Wednesday, March 4. Prime Minister Gordon Brown today addressed a joint session of Congress, becoming only the fifth British premier ever to do so. Brown told the gathered US politicians that they must work with "your friend" Europe and other nations to help ease the global recession rather than employ protectionist measures. Towards the beginning of his appearance on Capitol Hill Brown also announced that veteran US senator Ted Kennedy is to receive an honorary knighthood.

"There is no old Europe, no new Europe, there is only your friend Europe," said Brown who follows in the footsteps of Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair in addressing the joint houses of Congress. There were almost 20 standing ovations for the British leader during his near-40-minute speech, though the chamber, not quite full, was notably quieter when the British politician denounced protectionism as a way forward.

Speaking also about the ongoing war on terrorism, Brown complimented America, saying: "There is no battlefield of liberty on which there is not a piece of land that is marked out as American." And addressing environmental concerns, he stated: "You, the nation who had the vision to put a man on the moon, are also the nation to protect and preserve our planet earth."

And there were further compliments dotted throughout the speech: "Throughout your history, Americans have led insurrections in the human imagination, have summoned revolutionary times through your belief that there is no such thing as an impossible endeavour. It is never possible to come here without having your faith in the future renewed," said the PM.

Blogging during the speech, BBC political correspondent David Thompson said Brown's appeals to history were a careful tactic. "By stressing the historical nature of the special relationship between Britain and America - the shared casualties of two world wars, the role of Senator Edward Kennedy in the Northern Irish peace process and, of course, the joint response to 9/11, Gordon Brown is emphasising the depth of the links between the US and the UK - and preparing the ground for his argument that the special relationship will be key to finding a way through the global economic crisis too."

Contributing to the same blog, Rajini Vaidyanathan noted Brown's insistence on the UK/US special relationship. "In the space of a minute, the prime minister used the word 'friendship' four times, and the word 'partnership' three times, hammering home the point."

Also blogging from America, the Guardian's Oliver Burkeman suggested that Brown was taking a few too many leaves out of Barack Obama's rhetoric book. "There will be no harbour for terrorism, and terrorists 'will not destroy the American spirit.' All right, all right - is he making a bid for the presidential nomination, or something?

"But Brown is actually carrying this off pretty damn well. He's almost being charismatic," said Burkeman, who concluded that, all in all, the address was "rousing and very well-received by the local audience, but with a strong sense of really rather strikingly left-wing and internationalist messages being delivered - things it wouldn't necessarily be easy for many of those present to hear."

But those liveblogging for the Times of London were more scathing. "Ultimately the speech was a half hour self-indulgence. What did that speech do for Britain? I'm not sure if I know,” said Sam Coates, while Alice Fishburn remarked: "There were no obvious stumbles. But the applause ringing in Brown's ears will have faded by the time he gets back to Heathrow. Not one for the history books."

LAST UPDATED 4:08 PM, MARCH 4, 2009