UK's 'special relationship' with US will remain, but next PM won't cozy up to Obama

Washington, May 7 (ANI): US President Barack Obama will have to accept that while his country's relationship with Britain will remain special, the next Prime Minister of that country will not be subservient to Washington, as has been the case with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

According to the New York Daily News, Britain's New Labor Party has never recovered from the perception that Blair was so tight with Washington that he was ridiculed as President George W. Bush's "poodle."

"The longstanding U.S. assumption of automatic British support for its policies is now in question," predicted Martin Walker, a former Washington correspondent for The Guardian.

"The Lone Ranger can no longer count on Tonto," Walker added last week.

Officially, both governments express their undying affection and say common interests - Afghanistan, global trade, financial reform and Iranian nukes - ensure the relationship will stay strong.

"There may be some tonal shifts, but not a lot," an Anglo-American specialist said, "and no real policy shifts." (ANI)