Blair on Bush

Tony Blair, amid his country's current near-vote of no-confidence in he and his government, is backing away from Bush by separating their aid packages and debt relief to Africa initiatives:

George Bush's administration supports wiping out $40bn (£22bn) of multilateral debt for the poorest countries, but says it must be financed by cuts in subsequent aid programmes. The US also wants all future disbursements to these countries to be in grant form. Britain wants rich countries to make up what the World Bank and other creditors would lose in loan repayments, so overall available aid is not lost.

The British describe the US plan as robbing Peter to pay Paul. But debt relief is a lot more popular than extra aid on Capitol Hill.