Andrew Grice: The Week In Politics

It's not perfect, but the G8 deal is a lot more than some expected

Thanks to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, the G8 has travelled a long way from the cosy fireside chats that began in the 1970s, when world leaders ticked off a motherhood and apple pie declaration on the economy, baked in advance by their officials. Many of their gatherings were little more than a glorified photo-opportunity, a chance to hob-nob on the world stage.

Given the intense security surrounding this week's summit, there was a danger of the G8 leaders looking dangerously cocooned given the terrible events in London. As police chased protesters round a field many miles away from the Gleneagles Hotel, unprotected Londoners were killed on their way to work.

But that wouldn't be the right reaction. Gleneagles was a real meeting, with real negotiations and decisions. For once, when British ministers and officials said it would go "right up to the wire," they weren't spinning.

The money that enabled Mr Blair to hit his $50bn target for extra aid to poor countries was still coming in on Thursday night.

The sombre mood which engulfed the summit after the London attacks may have even helped Mr Blair to squeeze some more concessions out of his fellow leaders. It might have stopped Jacques Chirac from grandstanding. But even before news of the attack reached Gleneagles, the wheels were turning in a positive direction.

Despite a sceptical reaction by some, there is a reasonable chance the summit will make a difference in Africa. Whether it will provide the one-off step change to match the great expectations created by Live8 and the Make Poverty History campaign remains to be seen. But it is a good start.

On climate change, though, the outcome was more disappointing. Without targets for cutting carbon emissions, warm words are just that. And Africa and global warming are not separate issues: the continent will be badly affected by climate change unless more urgent action is taken.

But the declaration on the environment was better than nothing and much better than it might have been. When Mr Blair travelled to Washington five weeks ago, George Bush could barely bring himself to utter the words "global warming". British officials winced as, at one point, he called it "global change".

The fact that Gleneagles was in the diary forced President Bush to move. He has conceded the problem is in large part man-made. At last, America has come to the climate change table - along with other countries outside the Kyoto protocol such as China (which already has the second highest carbon emissions after the US), India and Brazil.

Without US involvement, the tougher declaration on global warming demanded by green groups might have made them feel good but would hardly have been worth the paper it was written on. British ministers believe environmental campaigners would have been unhappy no matter what was agreed at Gleneagles, saying they always regard a bottle as half-empty rather than half-full.

Yesterday's reaction from pressure groups on Africa was more positive. They judged the G8 aid package not quick enough, regretted the failure to get a firm date for ending agricultural subsidies but praised the leadership shown by the British Government.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Mr Blair's much vaunted "special relationship" with President Bush had failed to deliver once again. I am not so sure.

There was always going to be a limit to how far President Bush would move on issues that do not make front-page news in the US.

When the President and Prime Minister insist there is no direct trade-off between Gleneagles and the Iraq war, they are being slightly disingenuous.

True, Mr Blair doesn't say: "Come on pal, I took the flak on Iraq for you. You gotta give me another $10bn for Africa!" Instead, he plays The Great Persuader: he praises, cajoles and prods. In Washington last month, President Bush looked pleasantly surprised as Mr Blair lauded him for tripling aid to Africa - conveniently ignoring that it was from a very low base.

Some Labour MPs - and even some of his own advisers - have urged the Prime Minister to get off his Iraq hook by distancing himself from President Bush, notably in the run-up to the election.

There were similar calls from France to isolate and shame the US over climate change at Gleneagles. Yet if Mr Blair had taken their advice, he wouldn't have got such a good deal on Africa or global warming. And the London bombings were a reminder that Iraq will dog Mr Blair for as long as he remains in Downing Street.

Mr Blair has prodded President Bush further down the track on both the key issues than anyone else could. Imagine President Chirac or Gerhard Schröder tipping up at the White House and demanding action on Africa and global warming. After using their opposition to the Iraq war to play to their domestic galleries, they would have been sent packing with a flea in their ear - and a small one at that.

So, yes, the deal struck at Gleneagles is not perfect.

As Mr Blair acknowledged, it will not in itself make poverty history. But it is an important start. It is a pity that the meeting was eclipsed by the attacks in London, which is how it will be remembered by so many in Britain.

We can only hope that, one day, millions of African children will be able to read a history textbook about their continent that includes the Gleneagles summit for a very different reason than the terrorists' bombs.

a.grice@independent.co.uk