Cablegate: Ambassador's Call On Jon Cunliffe, G8/G20 Sherpa - Pm Pleased with Pittsburgh

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PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHLO #2326 2860841
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 130841Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3710
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 002326

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NOFORN

TREASURY FOR SOBEL, MURDEN, MEYER
NSC FOR FROMAN, HENNESSEY-NILAND

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2019
TAGS: ECON EINV PGOV UK
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S CALL ON JON CUNLIFFE, G8/G20 SHERPA - PM PLEASED WITH PITTSBURGH Classified By: Ambassador Louis Susman for reasons 1.4 b and d.

1. (C/NF) Summary: Prime Minister Brown was pleased with the outcome of the G-20 Pittsburgh Summit as well as the President's steps to underscore the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, Jon Cunliffe, Head of International Affairs, Cabinet Office and G8/G20 Sherpa, told the Ambassador during their meeting on October 7. He noted the PM's profound interest in global governance issues, and that the PM wanted discussions to continue beyond scheduled meetings of leaders and ministers. Cunliffe also expressed cautious optimism about the UK's economic recovery. End Summary.

Pittsburgh Results ------------------

2. (C/NF) UK officials were surprised by the Chinese level of engagement on substance, and believed the Pittsburgh Summit demonstrated that the G-20, not the G-8, is the right forum to address global economic issues, said Cunliffe. While the London April Summit was a meeting to stop the "financial hemorrhage," Pittsburgh laid the foundation for real collaboration and coordination in the future. The PM was also pleased to see the G-20 emerge as the preferred forum to discuss global economic issues, especially since Brown sees himself as one of the founders of the G-20, said Cunliffe. (Note: Brown, as Chancellor of the Exchequer during the UK's 1998 G7 Presidency, played an instrumental role in establishing this mechanism. End Note.)

3. (C/NF) The Prime Minister remains keenly interested in the issue of global governance and economic growth models, said Cunliffe, and will frequently send an early morning email to his staff about something he reads in the newspapers on these issues. Brown, he said, feels a twinge of regret that he did not push harder for discussions about growth and governance issues after the 1998/99 Asian economic crisis. He will not be content to wait for regularly scheduled meetings of leaders and ministers to discuss such critical issues, cautioned Cunliffe.

"We Know There Was No Snub but..." ---------------------------------

4. (C/NF) Cunliffe said UK officials did not perceive the lack of a scheduled one-on-one meetings between the President and the Prime Minster in Pittsburgh as a snub, and regretted that UK media had seized on a story that that was not there. The PM and others were, nonetheless, grateful the President's efforts demonstrated that the special relationship between the two countries and two leaders was intact.

Tories and Lisbon -----------------

5. (C/NF) As a civil servant, Cunliffe said he did not want to comment specifically on the Conservatives' view on the EU. Nonetheless, he commented that if the Conservatives were to start off their administration by withdrawing from or somehow stopping implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, it would create paralysis in the European Union.

Signs of Recovery -----------------

6. (SBU) The UK economy is showing signs of recovery, and positive growth could be registered by first quarter 2010, said Cunliffe. A remaining concern is, however, whether withdrawing stimulus measures, in early 2010, would trigger a double-dip recession. He also expressed concern about employment levels, which he does not expect to improve prior to 2011. Visit London's Classified Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX
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