Obama, Brown stress need for global unity on economy (Roundup)

UK News

By Mike McCarthy Mar 3, 2009, 18:16 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday called for a worldwide solution to the economic crisis while urging nations to work together to regulate financial markets. US President Barack Obama walks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown following a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., USA, on 03 March 2009. EPA/KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL . .

US President Barack Obama walks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown following a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., USA, on 03 March 2009. EPA/KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL . .The two leaders met for the first time since Obama took office on January 20 and one month ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) summit of the world's leading economies. 'What we're talking about today is how, by us taking action, Britain and America, we can help other countries join us in making for a more stable and effective financial system,' Brown said. The turmoil in the financial markets is viewed as the biggest culprit in the economic downturn that has left both countries mired in a recession. Both leaders have endorsed measures that better supervise the finance industry to prevent the high-risk lending that produced record mortgage defaults in the United States and the subsequent credit freeze. Playing on former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's economic programme during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Brown has advocated a 'global New Deal.' 'There is the possibility in the next few months of a global New Deal that will involve all the countries of the world in sorting out and cleaning up the banking system,' Brown said. Obama recently inked an 787-billion-dollar stimulus package in an effort to boost the US economy and create jobs, and is weighing whether to ask Congress for billions more to bail-out the finance sector. Obama was optimistic that his plan will work but cautioned that it will not happen 'overnight.' 'I'm absolutely confident that they will work, and I'm absolutely confident that credit's going to be flowing again, that businesses are going to start seeing opportunities for investment, they're going to start hiring again,' he said. The US president backed Brown that more needs to be done to regulate international markets. 'We believe in the free market, we believe in a government that is not overbearing and allows entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive,' Obama said, 'but we also share a common belief that there have to be sufficient regulatory structures in place so that the market doesn't spin out of control.' Brown became the first European leader to meet with Obama in an enduring sign of the bond between the two countries. The two leaders had a meeting before moving on to lunch. Both men highlighted their nations' special trans-Atlantic friendship based on mutual values. 'I've come here to renew our special relationship for new times. It's a partnership of purpose,' Brown said. 'It's a partnership of purpose that is born out of shared values.' Brown is due to address Congress on Wednesday, becoming the fifth British prime minister granted the honour. Brown's trip comes as his Labour Party is trailing the opposition Conservatives by more than 10 percentage points in polls. The two leaders also discussed the conflict in Afghanistan and agreed that it is not winnable as long as Taliban militants and al- Qaeda continue to find refuge in neighbouring Pakistan. The conflict is at the top of Obama's foreign agenda, and he is expected to ask Europe for more help. Britain already has more than 8,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, and the two leaders have sought greater contributions from other NATO partners, an issue that will likely arise at the alliance's summit next month. 'Both Great Britain and the United States share a deep interest in ensuring that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan are safe havens for terrorist activity,' Obama said. Obama has already announced that 17,000 more US soldiers will arrive in Afghanistan later this year, and more could be on the way. The new deployment will bring the US presence to more than 50,000. Brown has recently increased Britain's contribution to more than 8,000 troops.