[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 15 (Monday, April 21, 2008)]
[Pages 529-536]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the 
United Kingdom

April 17, 2008

    President Bush. Thank you all. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the 
Rose Garden. Glad you're here. It's a beautiful day. I'm--been a 
pleasure to welcome a good friend to the Oval Office and had a good 
discussion.
    Appreciate our special relationship with Britain, and I believe that 
the actions we've taken are making it stronger. We spent time talking 
about the terrorists and extremists. I would remind my fellow citizens 
that just days after the Prime Minister took office, his country was 
attacked by murderers and extremists, and he handled the situation 
brilliantly. Prime Minister Brown understands our enemies remain 
determined to strike our countries and to kill our people. He and I 
share a determination, a fierce determination that these evil men must 
be stopped and that we can defeat their hateful ideology by the 
spreading of liberty and freedom.
    We're working together in Iraq. I want to--appreciate the sacrifice 
of the British troops, their families, and the British people. During 
the recent fighting in the Basra Province, our nations coordinated our 
support for the Iraqi security forces as they took on extremists and 
criminals. I was most thankful for the brilliance of the British 
helicopter crews that fired under courage and helped evacuate wounded 
Iraqi soldiers.
    I talked to the Prime Minister about my meetings with General 
Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker and why I made the decision I made about 
our troop levels in Iraq. I appreciate the fact that the Prime Minister 
briefed me on what the British commanders are saying about Iraq. The key 
thing there is that we're working very closely together and that we're 
making progress.
    I also talked about Afghanistan with the Prime Minister. Appreciate 
the 7,900 British troops that are serving bravely in that country. We 
talked about the very successful NATO summit that we just concluded in 
Romania. We talked about our commitment to see to it that we succeed in 
Afghanistan.
    Spent some time on Iran. Our position is clear, that we're going to 
work together, along with other nations, to make it abundantly clear to 
the Iranian regime that they must not have the capability of developing 
a nuclear weapon.
    We talked about Zimbabwe, and I appreciate Gordon Brown's strong 
position on that issue. And I appreciate the fact that he went to the 
United Nations and made it abundantly clear that which I feel as well, 
which is, you can't have elections unless you're willing to put the 
results out. What kind of election is it if you not let the will of the 
people be known?
    I appreciate those in the region who have spoken out on this issue. 
Appreciate the fact

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that some in the region have spoken out against violence. More leaders 
in the region need to speak out. And the United Nations and the AU must 
play an active role in resolving the situation in Zimbabwe.
    We shared our deep concern about the people in Darfur. And I share 
frustrations that the United Nations-AU peacekeeping force is slow in 
arriving. I made the decision not to put our troops in there on the 
expectation that the United Nations, along with the AU, could be 
effective. And they haven't been as effective as they should be, and 
we'll continue to work to help them.
    We talked about our joint desire to train health care workers in 
Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia, as well as our continued effort 
to confront disease, whether it be malaria and HIV/AIDS.
    And then, of course, we spent time on our economy--ies. [Laughter] 
That would be two economies. We first spent some time on the global 
financial markets. And then we spent time talking about what each of us 
are doing in our respective countries to deal with our financial 
circumstances.
    We spent some time on trade. The worst signal we could send during 
this global uncertainty is that the world is going to become more 
protectionist and less willing to open up markets. And I want to thank 
Gordon Brown for his strong belief that the Doha rounds ought to 
proceed. I agree with you, sir, and believe we can make good progress 
toward that end.
    We talked about the climate change issue. I gave a speech right here 
in the Rose Garden yesterday. I don't know whether any of our press 
corps read it, but it was a far-reaching speech that talked about our 
commitment to deal with the issue in such a way that we can develop 
technologies without wrecking our economy. And it was in clear 
recognition that unless countries like China and India are at the table, 
any agreement is not going to work. And I assured the Prime Minister 
that by the time the G-8 comes, we will work hard to make sure we can 
reach an international consensus that will be effective.
    All in all, we had a fabulous conversation. I'm looking forward to 
dinner tonight. The Prime Minister is bringing his wife, Sarah, up here 
to the White House. And I'm--Laura and I are going to cook you up a 
meal. [Laughter] Well, we'll eat one with you. [Laughter] Thanks for 
coming.
    Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much, sir. Mr. President, let 
me first of all thank you for your warm welcome, for your hospitality, 
and for your offer to cook the meal this evening. And let me thank you 
most of all for your leadership. The world owes President George Bush a 
huge debt of gratitude for leading the world in our determination to 
root out terrorism and to ensure that there is no safe haven for 
terrorism and no hiding place for terrorists.
    It's my profound belief that over many decades, no international 
partnership has served the world better than the special relationship 
between our two countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. And 
following our excellent meeting, I'm able to report that the bond 
between our two countries is stronger than ever.
    From the darkest days of the Second World War, when the strongest 
transatlantic partnership was forged to defend freedom, to the 
challenges we face together against terrorism in every part of the 
world, our alliance will remain strong and steadfast in standing for 
freedom and for justice. And we will continue to work together with the 
strenuous efforts we are making together in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    Today we agreed our determination that in advance of the July G-8 
meeting in Japan, where all the major economies will meet together, we 
will do everything in our power to ensure economic stability and growth. 
We should be vigilant in maintaining the proactive approach to monetary 
and fiscal policy to enable our economies to resume their paths of 
upward growth. We want all our international partners to do the same. To 
ensure greater confidence in the financial system, all countries should 
ensure the immediate implementation of the plans for transparency and 
disclosure and risk management agreed by our finance ministers.
    We agreed to work--and President Bush has just referred to this--for 
an early world trade deal that will give new confidence to the 
international economy at this time. An enhanced dialog between oil 
consumers and

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oil producers, with rising output from the oil-producing countries, 
should help stabilize and then cut the price of oil, now at over $110 a 
barrel.
    We want to work with the World Bank and agricultural producers to 
enhance food supply, tackle food shortages, and increase agricultural 
production. And both Britain and America are taking action to help the 
housing market for homeowners and those who want to buy their homes for 
the first time.
    President Bush and I also talked about an agreed new work programs 
between our two governments on development. And let me acknowledge the 
pioneering work of President Bush's administration in tackling on the 
African continent HIV/AIDS and addressing the scandal of avoidable 
deaths from malaria.
    We agreed to work together, as President Bush has just said, to 
increase the number of doctors, nurses, and midwives in Ethiopia, Kenya, 
Mozambique, and Zambia, a down payment which, if extended to the whole 
of Africa, would lead to 1\1/2\ million more health service--health care 
workers.
    At the same time, the professionalism and commitment of our brave 
forces serving alongside America with determination in Iraq and 
Afghanistan was a subject of much of our discussions. We praise the 
commitment of the troops of both America and Britain and all who serve 
in these two countries. And we believe that our program of overwatch in 
Basra, in the south of Iraq, is making substantial progress. At the same 
time, we've agreed at the NATO summit in Bucharest measures that we can 
take so that we match the military effort in Afghanistan with proposals 
that will enable economic and social development of that country. 
America and Britain have the first and second largest number of forces 
in both these countries, and we are determined on the success of our 
missions.
    We reiterated our common stand on Darfur, and we want to see talks 
from the rebels and the Government working together. We reiterated our 
common stand also on Burma, where it is important to repeat the call for 
reconciliation. And on the situation in Zimbabwe, President Bush has 
made a strong statement that I entirely endorse, calling for full 
democratic rights of the Zimbabwean people to be respected, and that 
elections that happen have got to be not only reported but be fair and 
be seen to be fair in the interest of democracy, not just in Zimbabwe 
but the reputation of democracy throughout Africa and the world.
    We have repeated our common commitments in the fight against 
terrorism and will continue to work together at every level to defeat 
terrorism wherever it is. Iran continues to defy the will of the 
international community. And we are agreed on the need to strengthen the 
sanctions regime and ensure that these sanctions are effectively 
implemented. I will be talking to my European colleagues in the next few 
days about how we can move forward with both these issues throughout 
Europe. And we want to extend measures to include investment in 
liquefied national gas.
    We also discussed climate change, following President Bush's 
announcement yesterday. And we agreed we must work internationally to 
secure progress at the G-8 and towards a post-Kyoto deal on climate 
change.
    President, this is an ambitious agenda that we share together. It 
can only be achieved by closer cooperation that will happen over these 
next few months. I look forward to continuing to work with President 
Bush and his administration in taking it forward. And thank you for your 
warm welcome and hospitality.
    President Bush. Yes, sir. We'll take two questions a side. Hunt. 
Terry Hunt [Associated Press].

War on Terror in Iraq/2008 Presidential Elections

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You said last week that Iraq was not an 
endless war, but others have called it an open-ended war and a war with 
no end in sight. Do you agree with those descriptions?
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, you met today with the three candidates who 
want to succeed President Bush. Did you feel a special kinship with any 
one of them? And do you think that the transatlantic relationship will 
improve under the next President? Thank you.
    President Bush. One of those three has a good chance of winning. 
[Laughter] Look,

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I'm interested in succeeding in Iraq. I mean, it's--this is a mission 
that is succeeding on the security front; it's getting better on the 
economic front; and it's improving on the political front.
    And therefore, my statement has been, we'll have the troops there 
necessary to succeed. It's--it hasn't been easy. It's been difficult. 
It's taking longer than I anticipated, but it's worth it. A failure in 
Iraq would embolden Al Qaida, would give Al Qaida a huge victory, enable 
them to more likely establish safe haven in a wealthy country from which 
to launch attacks against us.
    And a failure in Iraq would send a message to Iran that the United 
States and its allies were not intent upon making sure that they stay 
within the borders of their country and stop promoting terrorism through 
organizations like Hizballah. And they wouldn't take us seriously when 
it came to stopping their desires to have a nuclear weapon. Failure in 
Iraq would send a message to our friends: You can't count on America.
    Success in Iraq will be a significant blow to both Al Qaida and 
Iran's ambitions. And it's worth it, in my judgment, to succeed against 
Al Qaida, the very country--the very group of people that attacked our 
country and those who would like to do so again, even on a more massive 
scale. And it's worth it to say to the theocrats in Iran that you must 
reform and that we're going to work to prevent you from having a nuclear 
weapon.
    And so when it comes to troop levels and duration, my question is, 
what does it take to win? And General Petraeus thinks we can win with 
fewer troops. That's why I accepted the recommendation. General Petraeus 
and Ryan Crocker know that the troops were necessary to provide 
stability for the political progress to be made--that's being made and 
for the economy to improve. And so, so long as I'm the President, my 
measure of success is victory and success.
    Q. [Inaudible]
    President Bush. I've only got 10 more months left of the Presidency.
    Prime Minister Brown. There's no artificial timetable here. Let's 
not forget that Iraq is now a democracy, that democratic rights have 
been restored to the Iraqi people, that we're now building schools and 
hospitals, seeing economic development. And I'm particularly referring 
to the area where we have responsibility, and that is Basra.
    And let us also remember that there is progress in Iraqis now being 
able to take more control of their own affairs. And we're now in a 
situation where we've trained up 20,000 Iraqi forces, 22,000 Iraqi 
policemen and women. We've got more to do in that area. And so our role 
in training the Iraqis, making it possible for them, as they did in the 
Basra operation, to assume more control of their own affairs is the way 
that we want to move from combat to overwatch in Iraq. And that's 
exactly what we're going to do.
    And we're going to combine that with building up local government 
where there will be local government elections that will force militias 
to make a choice between the democratic process and armed insurrection. 
And at the same time, economic and social development will be pushed 
forward. And we are having a conference in London in the next few days 
where Iraqis and others will look at how we can move forward with the 
reconstruction and economic development of the area, so that people have 
a stake in the future, they have jobs, businesses are being created, and 
Iraq--and Iraqis are now running their own affairs.
    It is--if I might answer your second question, it is for Americans 
to decide who their President is going to be. I was delighted to meet 
the three Presidential candidates who remain in the field. What I was 
convinced of after talking to each of them--and talking about the issues 
that concern them and concern the world--is that the relationship 
between America and Britain will remain strong, remain steadfast. It 
will be one that will be able to rise to the challenges of the future. 
And I look forward to continuing my discussions with all three of them 
over the next few months.
    President Bush. Yes, call on one of these----
    Prime Minister Brown. Nick. I thought you usually called Nick. 
[Laughter]

Global Economy/United Kingdom's Government

    President Bush. I was afraid Nick might ask me a question this time. 
[Laughter]

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    Q. The last thing I'd like to do is disappoint you, Mr. President. 
[Laughter]
    President Bush. Nick, you need a hat, my boy; you need a hat. 
[Laughter]
    Q. I thought of getting one saying----
    President Bush. That's right. [Laughter]
    Q. Mr. President, Prime Minister, Nick Robinson of BBC News. The 
Prime Minister has repeatedly said that Britain's economic difficulties 
started here in the United States. Do the solutions to them have to 
begin here as well?
    And, Prime Minister, if I could ask you, you've got a very important 
agenda here on this trip, and yet at home, increasingly you're being 
criticized from within your own political party. What is going wrong in 
your party and Government, and what are you going to do about it?
    Prime Minister Brown. I'm sticking to the job, and I'm getting on 
with the job. And I think people understand that there is a difficult 
situation around the world. We did have a credit crunch. It did mean 
that there were problems that started in the financial institutions in 
America, but these are problems now in Europe. There are problems in 
Britain. There are problems in every country of the world. And one of 
the issues that we're dealing with is that the issues that brought about 
the credit crunch are combined to rising food prices around the world, 
rising oil prices, and the threat of inflation in certain areas as well.
    And I'm satisfied that the discussions we've had today with 
President Bush, yesterday in Wall Street--I'm meeting Ben Bernanke, the 
head of the Federal Reserve tomorrow--show the common ground we have in 
dealing with the issues ahead and in getting the economy to a position 
where markets are moving again, where growth is restored on an upward 
path, and where people can feel more safe and more secure about their 
jobs.
    What matters to me is that people feel safe and secure about the 
future, about their prospects, and about their jobs. And that's why we 
will not hesitate to take any action that is necessary to keep the 
economy moving forward.
    That's why I've outlined today measures that include what we can do 
in the housing market, what we can do to tackle food price rises, what 
we can do to tackle oil price rises. And that's why it's important that 
there is coordination across the Atlantic, indeed, coordination between 
all the major industrial powers, so that we can all contribute what each 
of us can in each continent to the process of restoring both confidence 
in the world economy and stability and growth. And we will continue to 
do that.
    And as far as the domestic situation back home, is it? I will 
continue to do the right thing and do what is right for the British 
economy and the British people.
    President Bush. We're in a rough patch right now. We had a pretty 
good run, as a matter of fact, had the most consecutive months of job 
growth in the country's history. And our housing market went soft, and 
it began to affect the financial markets.
    So we've done a--taken a variety of steps. First, we're trying to 
help creditworthy people stay in their homes. I don't know what it's 
like in Britain, but here, the guy who gave you your mortgage generally 
doesn't own the paper anymore. They bundled it up and sold it somewhere 
else, and it's hard to find somebody to renegotiate with. So we put a 
system in place that helps creditworthy homeowners renegotiate. In other 
words, we want to help people stay in their homes.
    I'm not particularly interested in bailing out lenders or 
speculators. But I am interested in helping hard-working Americans be 
able to find a way to stay in their homes. And it's been effective--
effective program.
    Secondly, we worked with Congress on a progrowth package, over $150 
billion of tax cuts, most of which will start hitting people's mailboxes 
and/or accounts in the second week of May. Some of the incentives in the 
progrowth package are for small businesses and businesses with 
accelerated appreciation, incentives to invest. And it's beginning to 
kick in a little bit, but the program hasn't really taken effect. I 
mean, the consumers don't have their checks yet. And we feel good that 
this will help our economy.
    And finally, the Fed, which is an independent from the White House, 
I might add, has taken some strong actions to enhance liquidity in the 
system. And I'm--we'll work with Congress on pieces of legislation that

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will actually help people, and I'll take a dim view of legislation that 
will make it harder for the economy to correct.
    Yes, Toby [Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters].

Iran/Global Food Prices/Energy

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Mr. ElBaradei of the 
IAEA said today that Iran's progress in developing uranium enrichment is 
slow, and that its centrifuges are older models. So how do you reconcile 
that with the U.S. view that Iran is a major nuclear threat?
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. And, Prime Minister Brown, what concrete measures can Western 
governments take to address the soaring food prices? And do you think 
that there should be a rethinking of biofuel policy?
    President Bush. Let me start on Iran here. If they learn how to 
enrich, it is knowledge which can be used to develop a nuclear weapon. 
They claimed that they've got a civilian program in place, that this is 
only for civilian purposes. If that's the case, why did they have a 
secret program? Why have they violated the IAEA? And so our objective is 
to, on the one hand, recognize they have a sovereign right to have 
civilian power by joining Russia and providing them with the fuel 
necessary to run their civilian nuclear facility, and then having them 
honor the agreements they've signed up to.
    They have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. And, you know, to 
say that, well, okay, it's okay to let them learn to enrich, and assume 
that that program and knowledge couldn't be transferred to a program, a 
military program, is, in my judgment, naive. And that is why the United 
States, in working with Britain and France and Germany and the United 
Nations Security Council, is all aiming to say to the Iranians, 
verifiably suspend your program, and there's a better way forward for 
you.
    And so it's--our diplomatic efforts are ongoing, and I appreciate 
the fact that Great Britain has been a great country to work with on 
this issue, because Gordon Brown seriously sees the threat, as do I. And 
now is the time to confront the threat. And I believe we can solve the 
problem diplomatically, and that is why we're working to verifiably 
suspend their enrichment.
    Prime Minister Brown. Well, I make no apology for saying that we 
will extend sanctions, where possible, on Iran. Iran is in breach of the 
nonproliferation treaty. Iran has not told the truth to the 
international community about what its plans are. And that's why I'm 
talking to other European leaders about how we can extend European 
sanctions against Iran over the next period of time and to ensure that 
what sanctions are taken are effectively implemented and to monitor the 
effect on the Iranian regime where we see high inflation in Iran that is 
not properly disclosed by the regime and the effect that sanctions are 
actually beginning to have on that country.
    So in the next few weeks, we want to extend the measures and 
sanctions to include investment in liquefied natural gas. I believe that 
sends another signal to the regime that what is happening is 
unacceptable. I'm pleased Secretary of State Rice is here with us today, 
because we will support her in the efforts that are being made, working 
with our other partners, including of course Russia and China, on this 
to make sure that Iran recognizes that it cannot ignore the 
international community and its obligations at its--without--with 
impunity.
    You also asked about food prices. I'm calling a meeting in London in 
the next few days with the head of the World Food Programme to discuss 
what we can do to deal with the situation that is producing food riots 
in many countries, the lowest supplies of food for 30 years, shortages 
of food in many continents and many countries that are making people 
worried about whether, in some countries, they can actually feed the 
people.
    Now, there are long and detailed causes for why this is happening. 
In Asia, people's demand for better and higher quality of food means 
that more agricultural production is needed. Subsidies in some areas 
have meant that there is less agricultural production in Africa than 
there should be. The World Food Programme is wanting and has issued an 
appeal for more support. And we and America have already offered more 
support to help feed people who are in the greatest of difficulty.

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    And in the long term, yes, we will look at biofuels, where we've 
withdrawn some of the subsidies for biofuels. We've got to get it 
absolutely right, but we're dealing with the environmental issue as well 
as dealing with the problem of increased production of food. And of 
course we've got to increase, generally, our ability to produce more 
food for more of the world's people over the next few years.
    So, yes, we must act immediately, and, yes, we must have a long-term 
plan. The world needs to have more supply of food to meet the rising 
demand of people around the world.

United Kingdom-U.S. Relations/United Kingdom's Economy

    Q. Mr. President, I notice your warm words at the start there. Some 
people would suggest that the special relationship is a little less 
special than it was under Mr. Brown's predecessor. Is that true or 
false?
    And, Prime Minister, a domestic question, I'm afraid----
    President Bush. False. [Laughter]
    Q. ----a member of your Government appears upset enough tonight 
about the abolition of the 10p rate to consider resigning. Isn't it time 
for you to at least consider unraveling that particular change?
    President Bush. False, if you didn't hear me. Now, we got a great 
relationship. And it's--we're working on a variety of issues. Listen, 
our special relationship has been forged in common values in history, 
and we're making history together. And we're dealing with a lot of 
problems. The most severe problem, as far as I'm concerned, is the 
willingness of people to murder innocent people to achieve their 
political objectives. I mean, this is the fundamental threat facing 
civilization in the 21st century.
    And Prime Minister Brown sees the threat. I mean, he had to live 
through the threat. And so it's--our relationship is very special, and 
it's--I'm confident future Presidents will keep it that way. There's 
just such a uniqueness in the relationship. That's not to say you can't 
have other friends, and we do. But this is a unique relationship, truly 
is. And I value my personal friendship as well as our--the relationship 
between our countries.
    Look, if there wasn't a personal relationship, I wouldn't be 
inviting the man to a nice hamburger or something--[laughter]--well-
done, I might add.
    Prime Minister Brown. I'm very proud to be here today to celebrate a 
special relationship. In 1941, Winston Churchill met Franklin Roosevelt 
and inaugurated what is the modern phase of that special relationship. 
And Churchill said at the time, ``Same language, same hymns''--he said, 
``Same ideals, same values; something big is happening.'' And what was 
big that happened was that never before has a relationship yielded so 
much in the 1940s against--in the fight against fascism and the cold war 
that then followed where we worked together. In the fight against 
terrorism, we're--as Tony Blair said, we stand shoulder to shoulder with 
the American people and with President Bush. And I continue to stand 
shoulder to shoulder with him in rooting out terrorism wherever we find 
it, in any part of the world which puts freedom, democracy, and justice 
at risk.
    And what I think is fascinating is that over the next few months, we 
will be developing that special relationship in new ways--a special 
relationship of peoples as well as of governments; more cooperation 
between our universities and more exchanges between young people in 
Britain and young people in America; more scientific cooperation; more 
cooperation in the fight against cancer, whether a joint project--the 
Human Genome Project--where we're working together; environmental 
action, where the institutes in Britain and America are agreeing this 
week to have more cooperation; and right across the board, as we take 
the English language, Britain and America, and make it a gift and then 
offer it to the rest of the world to make it possible for millions of 
people in different parts of the world to learn the English language.
    So this is a special relationship, not just of governments but of 
peoples. And I look forward to its enhancement at all levels in the 
years to come. And I will work as hard as President Bush to make that 
relationship as strong and as enduring for the future.
    You asked also about our economic policies. We have low inflation; 
therefore, we've

[[Page 536]]

brought down interest rates. We have low debt; therefore, we can afford 
to spend more.
    We've made a major tax reform. And you ask about the 10p rate. Let's 
not forget that this April, the tax rate in Britain, the basic rate of 
tax is going down from 22 pence to 20 pence. We've virtually doubled 
child benefit for families over the last 10 years and raised it again 
this year, and we'll raise it next year. We're raising the child tax 
credit. We've got a new winter allowance addition for pensioners so that 
they can meet the fuel bills. And every area where the 10p rate has 
affected people, whether it be low-paid workers or pensioners or whether 
it be families with children, we have acted to see that we could do the 
best by people in our country.
    Now, of course a tax reform is a big thing, but when you're reducing 
the basic rate from 22 pence to 20 pence--the first time it's been 
achieved, the lowest tax rate, basic tax rate for 75 years--it is an 
important thing to do. And I'm satisfied that once people understand the 
scale of the good things that we have been able to do in reforming the 
tax system and making it better--and that we're tackling poverty, as 
they do in America, by introducing and increasing tax credits for the 
poorest people--then whatever questions people have about these changes 
can be answered.
    Yes, they're important changes. They move the British economy 
forward. We have just seen this week that despite all the world 
difficulties, we have the highest employment rates at any time in our 
history. We have lower unemployment than at any time for 30 years. We 
have more vacancies in the economy, and that, combined with low 
inflation, a stable economy, lower interest rates--as we've managed to 
achieve over the last few weeks--means that the British economy is well 
positioned to face the challenges of the future and will continue to be 
so.
    And my answer to people who say what is happening domestically is, 
we are taking the right long-term decisions for the British economy, 
whether it's on nuclear power or on housing or on planning or 
infrastructure. And of course, at some times, people ask questions about 
whether you're doing the right thing. But we will see these long-term 
changes through, and these are the right long-term changes for Britain 
and for the British people.
    President Bush. You guys want to sit out here for the afternoon or--
[laughter]. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Yes. Thank you.
    Prime Minister Brown. Thank you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 2:43 p.m. in the Rose 
Garden at the White House. In his remarks, the President referred to 
Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--
Iraq. Prime Minister Brown referred to Executive Director Josette 
Sheeran of the World Food Programme; and former Prime Minister Tony 
Blair of the United Kingdom. A reporter referred to Director General 
Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency.