Gordon Brown is clearly embarrassed by the presence of the Greek Prime Minster at his Lefties' love-in

As reported by this Greek news website, the Prime Minister of Greece is attending the so-called Progressive Governance conference in London today:

"Prime Minister George Papandreou arrived in London on Thursday evening and will be participating on Friday in the Conference on Progressive Governance on the theme "Growth strategies after the crisis," while he will be speaking on the chapter "After the crisis:A strategic role of the government" together with his British counterpart Gordon Brown, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg."

Strange, you might think, that Gordon Brown didn't feel able to name check him when he mentioned the other Prime Ministers attending in his keynote speech to the event this morning:

"In particular, let me say what an honour it is to welcome Prime Ministers Stoltenberg and Zapatero to Britain. Prime Minister Stoltenberg has been a global leader on development and climate change and let me thank him and Norway for their pioneering initiatives on health education and environment.

"And Prime Minister Zapatero has inspired the world with his passion and programme for social rights, his commitment to equality for women, and his determination that Spain will lead in international aid for the poorest countries of the world. By the actions they have taken, founded on the progressive beliefs they hold, both Prime Minister Stoltenberg and Prime Minister Zapatero have changed the world for the better and forever and we are very proud of all that they have achieved."

Poor Mr Papandreou. Could it be that Brown is ashamed to be welcoming to London the man in charge of arguably the one European economy that is in a worse state than our own?

Jonathan Isaby