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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| James Landale's G8 diary | |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| World leaders, including Gordon Brown, have gathered for a G8 summit in L'Aquila, the Italian city struck by an earthquake earlier this year. BBC Political Correspondent James Landale is with them. | World leaders, including Gordon Brown, have gathered for a G8 summit in L'Aquila, the Italian city struck by an earthquake earlier this year. BBC Political Correspondent James Landale is with them. |
| WEDNESDAY 2145 BST | |
| The G8 summit is being held in a huge complex where Italy's Guardia di Finanza trains its new recruits. This leads to two thoughts. First, Silvio Berlusconi has chosen to hold his summit in a Police Academy. You choose which sequel he was thinking of. Second, what does Gordon Brown think as he watches ranks of grey-uniformed, heavily-armed financial police march up and down the streets? Could he perhaps, just fleetingly, wonder why he, as Chancellor, never had his hands on a financial militia like this, a sort of paramilitary customs and excise and Serious Fraud Office rolled into one? How different might things have been through all those years of conflict with Tony Blair? Just a thought. | |
| WEDNESDAY 1030 BST | WEDNESDAY 1030 BST |
| We - the prime minister and his entourage of officials and assorted hackery - have arrived in Italy for the summit of G8 nations. At least that is what it is today, a meeting of Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the US. For tomorrow we take on China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa and become the G8 + 5. As if that were not enough, our Italian hosts have invited along Egypt so we shall then become the G8 + 5 + 1. Only we won't because the Chinese president has flown home to deal with his internal unrest. Thus we shall be the G8 + 5 + 1 - 1. Are you following me? Now it gets easier. President Obama has also convened something tomorrow called the Major Economies Forum to discuss climate change. This comprises all of the above plus South Korea, Indonesia, Australia and the EU, but not Egypt. Denmark will be there because they are chairing important climate change talks later this year. By my maths, you could call this the G18. So we are almost up to the G20 which met earlier this year in London - remember that? - and will reconvene in Pittsburgh in September. A lot of meetings, a lot of money, but how much progress? | We - the prime minister and his entourage of officials and assorted hackery - have arrived in Italy for the summit of G8 nations. At least that is what it is today, a meeting of Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the US. For tomorrow we take on China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa and become the G8 + 5. As if that were not enough, our Italian hosts have invited along Egypt so we shall then become the G8 + 5 + 1. Only we won't because the Chinese president has flown home to deal with his internal unrest. Thus we shall be the G8 + 5 + 1 - 1. Are you following me? Now it gets easier. President Obama has also convened something tomorrow called the Major Economies Forum to discuss climate change. This comprises all of the above plus South Korea, Indonesia, Australia and the EU, but not Egypt. Denmark will be there because they are chairing important climate change talks later this year. By my maths, you could call this the G18. So we are almost up to the G20 which met earlier this year in London - remember that? - and will reconvene in Pittsburgh in September. A lot of meetings, a lot of money, but how much progress? |
| WEDNESDAY 0700 BST | WEDNESDAY 0700 BST |
| I am en route to the G8 in Italy with Gordon Brown. And already I am late with the news. It appears the press pack has a new member, one Sarah Brown who will be blogging from the summit. | I am en route to the G8 in Italy with Gordon Brown. And already I am late with the news. It appears the press pack has a new member, one Sarah Brown who will be blogging from the summit. |
| See the Prime Minister's wife's first post at sarahbrowng8.wordpress.com | See the Prime Minister's wife's first post at sarahbrowng8.wordpress.com |