Obama on the "special relationship"

It appears that Barack Obama, the likely democratic contender at the next American presidential election, made some interesting comments on the "special relationship"(SR) with the UK at a recent fund-raising event in London. Speaking on the telephone from the US, he said that he would expect the SR to be "fairer" and "more equal" in the future, and that the US administration should learn to take more account of its allies' views. This is good news for the British diplomacy, still reeling from having got back so little from its support for the Iraq invasion in 2003. It is also a way, both for Obama and Brown, to turn the page of the Blair/Bush alliance and establish, provided Obama is elected, a more equal partnership.