Obama to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace
The palace said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who have returned from their honeymoon in recent days, will also meet the president and the first lady, Michelle Obama.
Barack Obama arrived in the UK from Ireland on Air Force One late on Monday, earlier than planned, to avoid the volcanic ash cloud moving south-east from Iceland. He stayed at the US ambassador's residence in central London ahead of a day of royal protocol with most of the hard talking on global politics with David Cameron expected on Wednesday.
The prime minister is hopeful the two leaders can assert that they are aligned on tackling financial deficits as well as addressing Libya, the Arab spring and Afghanistan.
The palace said the Obamas would meet the new royal couple in the 1844 room for around 10 minutes before the formal welcome begins in the garden, where they will be greeted by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. There will be a ceremonial welcome from the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, and the Obamas will then view the royal picture gallery.
After the palace, the Obamas are due to go to Westminster Abbey to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior before meeting David and Samantha Cameron at Downing Street. They are also expected to meet the opposition leader, Ed Miliband, at Buckingham Palace where they will stay after a formal dinner.
Royal watchers will be hoping for a repeat of the famous embrace between the Queen and America's first lady, when the Obamas last visited in 2009.
Any implicit endorsement of the government's deficit reduction plan by the Democrat president would be a big political prize for the Conservatives, helping to immunise the prime minister from some Labour attacks that the cuts are going too fast and too deep.
In a joint article, Obama and Cameron said that despite being two leaders from two different political traditions, they saw "eye to eye".
"When the United States and Britain stand together, our people and people around the world can become more secure and more prosperous.
"And that is the key to our relationship. Yes, it is founded on a deep emotional connection, by sentiment and ties of people and culture. But the reason it thrives, the reason why this is such a natural partnership, is because it advances our common interests and shared values.
"It is a perfect alignment of what we both need and what we both believe. And the reason it remains strong is because it delivers time and again. Ours is not just a special relationship, it is an essential relationship – for us and for the world."
They also promised not to abandon the protesters fighting for democracy in the Arab spring. "We will not stand by as their aspirations get crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire," said the two leaders, in an article in the Times. "We are reluctant to use force, but when our interests and values come together, we know we have a responsibility to act … We will stand with those who want to bring light into dark, support those who seek freedom in place of repression, aid those laying the building blocks of democracy."
The article also refers to the need to tackle deficits.
Privately, Conservative sources are increasingly confident that the Treasury and its US counterpart are now seeing eye to eye on deficit reduction after being at odds for some months. They believe the US treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, has formed a close relationship with the chancellor, George Osborne.
In April, Obama laid out plans to cut the deficit by $4tn (£2.5tn) over the next 10 years, a pace of reduction that the Conservatives claim is similar to their UK goals. The British plan aims to cut the deficit from 11.1% of gross domestic product in 2009-10 to 1.5% of GDP in 2015-16.
Under the president's plan, public-sector borrowing will fall from 10.9% of GDP this year to 3.3% in 2016. The US plan starts later, but aims to achieve the same pace of reduction, using the same proportionate mix of tax rises and spending cuts
source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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