Barack Obama stepped onto the world stage today for the first time as President.

His first stop London, and a meeting with the British Prime Minister ahead of tomorrow’s G20 summit When the pair last met in Washington observers described relations between the two men as only cordial. Today seemed to be different. The so called special relationship between Britain and the US appeared to be working and despite their differences on how best to rescue the global economy both were keen stress the idea of togetherness. Obama said he had come to listen. He said: “ We are lifting ourselves out of this crisis and putting an end to the abuses that got us here. I know that the G20 nations are appropriately pursuing their own approaches and as Gordon indicated, we are not going to agree on every point. “I came here to put forward our ideas but I also came here to listen and not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis with no borders. We have a responsibility to coordinate our actions and to focus on common ground, not on our occasional differences.” Brown also sought to play up consensus and downplayed reports of serious rift with countries like France over the best way to rescue the world’s economies. Brown predicted France’s President Sarkozy would still at the table when the leaders’ dinner is completed tomorrow evening.More about: Barack Obama, G20

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