Britain No Longer Special to America? (Telegraph, UK)

Britain's relationship with its greatest ally is already showing signs of strain under Barack Obama, but it is vital for our future, argues Con Coughlin.

One minute, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is waxing lyrical about the enduring strength of the special relationship between Britain and the United States. The next, he finds himself with his back to the wall in the House of Commons trying to defend Washington's latest bully-boy tactics.

Earlier this week, Miliband had enjoyed the enviable diplomatic distinction of becoming the first foreign envoy to meet with Hillary Clinton, the new US secretary of state. But within 24 hours of concluding his ground-breaking visit to Washington, Miliband was giving a rapidly-arranged statement to MPs defending Washington's allegedly high-handed treatment of requests from Britain's judiciary for details concerning the arrest and detention of former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed.

Two senior British judges, hearing a case brought by Mohamed to obtain details relating to his detention, were critical of Miliband. The Foreign Secretary had decided that intelligence reports relating to the case had to remain secret because the US was threatening to stop sharing intelligence on terror-related issues with Britain.

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