Redefining the relationship

Yo, Brown. It is just not possible to imagine George W Bush greeting Gordon Brown in the jovially familiar, yet superior, tone he once famously adopted when addressing Tony Blair, the Prime Minister's predecessor. Mr Blair was very much the junior partner in the special relationship as it was then. Time alone dictates that Mr Brown, who arrived at the Camp David retreat in Maryland last night, will not enjoy - if that is the appropriate verb - the same relationship with Mr Bush. The latter's discredited presidency, with only some 18 months to run, is entering its dog days.