Ed Miliband attempted to boost his prime ministerial credentials yesterday when he met Barack Obama at the White House – albeit for just 25 minutes. In the high-stakes meeting, known as a ‘brush-by’, the two men discussed the situations in Ukraine, Gaza, the Scottish referendum and the cost of living crisis, said Labour officials. A chat and all-important photo-opportunity with the U.S. president is seen as electoral gold dust for a British opposition leader. Meeting: Ed Miliband was officially in Washington to meet national security adviser Susan Rice but Barack Obama dropped in for what is known as a 'brush by' Labour officials were reportedly . terrified of a repeat performance of Gordon Brown’s hapless attempts to . get together with Mr Obama in 2009. After five unsuccessful requests, Mr . Brown had to make do with a humiliating five-minute chat in the . kitchens of the United Nations headquarters. Fearing failure again, party officials kept the Miliband visit secret until after he arrived in Washington on Sunday. There . had been worries Mr Miliband would also be shoved off the presidential . agenda by more pressing world events and his rejection of military . intervention in Syria last year. However, the meeting may have been helped by the presence of several ex-Obama aides on the Labour election team. Mr . Miliband missed the chance to respond to an urgent statement in the . House of Commons on action against Russia following the crash of MH17 . for the trip, which was kept secret and only confirmed by his office . after he arrived in the US. He . said in an interview on arrival that he wanted to be prime minister . next year, and felt it was important to discuss ‘the many pressing . issues our country faces’ with the U.S. ‘Whether . you think about trade and jobs or terrorism and climate change, we’ve . got to work with the United States’, he told ITV News. ‘As . somebody who wants to be the prime minister in less than 10 months’ time, it’s important I’m here talking to key figures in the . administration about the many pressing issued that our country faces and . indeed the world faces’. He . denied his scuppering of military strikes on Syria, in a dramatic vote a . year ago, had cooled relations with the U.S., as claimed last week by a . former presidential adviser. As . to whether he had pleaded for a meeting with the president, he said: . ‘No, this is about saying that I’m determined to engage with the United . States at all levels of the administration.’ He . also revealed he had not seen his brother David – who he challenged for . the Labour party leadership –  and now lives in New York who he said . was on holiday with his family ‘some distance’ away. Mr Miliband and President Obama met at Buckingham Palace in May 2011, when he warned Labour can only win the next election if he embraces a more optimistic vision for Britain's future . Damian McBride (left), a former spin doctor to Gordon Brown, insisted the Labour leader was wasting his time . Talks . between an opposition leader and the US President can be a high-stakes . affair which has been described as a ‘job interview for being prime . minister’. Mr Miliband – who . met Barack Obama in London last year –was anxious to avert the disaster . suffered by Gordon Brown in September 2009. The . then prime minister was snubbed five times by Mr Obama when they both . attended a UN summit in New York, and they eventually held a bizarre . meeting in a UN kitchen. Neil . Kinnock’s meeting with Ronald Reagan just before the 1987 election . turned to disaster when the president then went public with deep . concerns about his views on nuclear disarmament. Mr . Miliband also gave a speech to the Center for American Progress think . tank in Washington, calling for sanctions against Russia to be . tightened. Several former . Labour insiders said he had ‘wasted time’ trying to win cheap political . kudos. Former Labour spin doctor Damian McBride warned that the . ‘charade’ served nobody’s purposes and Mr Miliband later told ITV that . he had not ‘pleaded’ for a meeting with Mr Obama. And . with poor timing for Mr Miliband, Tony Blair yesterday blasted the . Labour leader’s anti-business agenda – and warned his enthusiasm for . state control was at odds with public opinion. Gordon Brown was snubbed by President Obama five times in 2009 before being granted a chat while walking through a kitchen at the United Nations . The . former Prime Minister suggested Mr Miliband had learned the wrong . lessons from the financial crash and suggested he should tone down his . anti-bank rhetoric. In a . warning to Mr Miliband, who has embraced some Old Labour principles such . as price controls and nationalisation, he said: ‘Old ideas in new . clothing are still old ideas – and are visibly so when undressed by . reality.’ He told the . Blairite group Progress that the Labour leadership was wrong to think . the public has ‘fallen back in love with the state’.
Labour leader travelled to Washington for talks with the President .
Securing a face-to-face meeting is seen as key to improving his image .
As an opposition leader it was not be a formal meeting, but a 'brush by'
Ed Miliband attempted to boost his prime ministerial credentials yesterday when he met Barack Obama at the White House – albeit for just 25 minutes. In the high-stakes meeting, known as a ‘brush-by’, the two men discussed the situations in Ukraine, Gaza, the Scottish referendum and the cost of living crisis, said Labour officials. A chat and all-important photo-opportunity with the U.S. president is seen as electoral gold dust for a British opposition leader. Meeting: Ed Miliband was officially in Washington to meet national security adviser Susan Rice but Barack Obama dropped in for what is known as a 'brush by' Labour officials were reportedly . terrified of a repeat performance of Gordon Brown’s hapless attempts to . get together with Mr Obama in 2009. After five unsuccessful requests, Mr . Brown had to make do with a humiliating five-minute chat in the . kitchens of the United Nations headquarters. Fearing failure again, party officials kept the Miliband visit secret until after he arrived in Washington on Sunday. There . had been worries Mr Miliband would also be shoved off the presidential . agenda by more pressing world events and his rejection of military . intervention in Syria last year. However, the meeting may have been helped by the presence of several ex-Obama aides on the Labour election team. Mr . Miliband missed the chance to respond to an urgent statement in the . House of Commons on action against Russia following the crash of MH17 . for the trip, which was kept secret and only confirmed by his office . after he arrived in the US. He . said in an interview on arrival that he wanted to be prime minister . next year, and felt it was important to discuss ‘the many pressing . issues our country faces’ with the U.S. ‘Whether . you think about trade and jobs or terrorism and climate change, we’ve . got to work with the United States’, he told ITV News. ‘As . somebody who wants to be the prime minister in less than 10 months’ time, it’s important I’m here talking to key figures in the . administration about the many pressing issued that our country faces and . indeed the world faces’. He . denied his scuppering of military strikes on Syria, in a dramatic vote a . year ago, had cooled relations with the U.S., as claimed last week by a . former presidential adviser. As . to whether he had pleaded for a meeting with the president, he said: . ‘No, this is about saying that I’m determined to engage with the United . States at all levels of the administration.’ He . also revealed he had not seen his brother David – who he challenged for . the Labour party leadership –  and now lives in New York who he said . was on holiday with his family ‘some distance’ away. Mr Miliband and President Obama met at Buckingham Palace in May 2011, when he warned Labour can only win the next election if he embraces a more optimistic vision for Britain's future . Damian McBride (left), a former spin doctor to Gordon Brown, insisted the Labour leader was wasting his time . Talks . between an opposition leader and the US President can be a high-stakes . affair which has been described as a ‘job interview for being prime . minister’. Mr Miliband – who . met Barack Obama in London last year –was anxious to avert the disaster . suffered by Gordon Brown in September 2009. The . then prime minister was snubbed five times by Mr Obama when they both . attended a UN summit in New York, and they eventually held a bizarre . meeting in a UN kitchen. Neil . Kinnock’s meeting with Ronald Reagan just before the 1987 election . turned to disaster when the president then went public with deep . concerns about his views on nuclear disarmament. Mr . Miliband also gave a speech to the Center for American Progress think . tank in Washington, calling for sanctions against Russia to be . tightened. Several former . Labour insiders said he had ‘wasted time’ trying to win cheap political . kudos. Former Labour spin doctor Damian McBride warned that the . ‘charade’ served nobody’s purposes and Mr Miliband later told ITV that . he had not ‘pleaded’ for a meeting with Mr Obama. And . with poor timing for Mr Miliband, Tony Blair yesterday blasted the . Labour leader’s anti-business agenda – and warned his enthusiasm for . state control was at odds with public opinion. Gordon Brown was snubbed by President Obama five times in 2009 before being granted a chat while walking through a kitchen at the United Nations . The . former Prime Minister suggested Mr Miliband had learned the wrong . lessons from the financial crash and suggested he should tone down his . anti-bank rhetoric. In a . warning to Mr Miliband, who has embraced some Old Labour principles such . as price controls and nationalisation, he said: ‘Old ideas in new . clothing are still old ideas – and are visibly so when undressed by . reality.’ He told the . Blairite group Progress that the Labour leadership was wrong to think . the public has ‘fallen back in love with the state’.
photo-opportunity with the U.S. president is seen is known as a 'brush by' Labour officials were pleaded for a meeting with the president, he Brown, insisted the Labour leader was wasting his time . Talks . between an opposition leader and the US President can be a high-stakes . affair