Nick Clegg goes to the White House
By politics.co.uk staff
Nick Clegg will make his first visit to the White House today, for talks with opposite number Joe Biden.
The deputy prime minister will meet the vice president to discuss matters such as the war in Afghanistan and social mobility.
The meeting comes after a chance encounter backstage at the United Nations, where Mr Clegg bumped into President Barack Obama.
Mr Clegg and Mr Biden have spoken several times to update each other on their respective agenda over video conference call, but this is their first face-to-face meeting.
The two men will have lunch together in Washington, in what has become Mr Clegg’s first major round of international diplomacy since becoming deputy prime minister.
SPesking to the UN yesterday, Mr Clegg struck a hard note when discussing the Millenium Development Goals.
“The last decade has seen some important progress,” he said.
“That progress has, however, been uneven, and, on a number of our goals we remain significantly off track.
“So my message to you today, from the UK government, is this – we will keep our promises; and we expect the rest of the international community to do the same.”
