David Cameron urged to back BP
David Cameron is today under pressure after apparently refusing to back BP in a war of words with the US government. Despite the fact that Pres. Obama appears intent on shifting the blame from the US government and the US authorities to the UK government in relation to the Gulf of Mexico spill David Cameron has said nothing in public to defend BP and Britain as a whole. So why is BP so important to the UK?
The very fact that BP brings in billions of pounds of taxes for the UK government as well as £1 in every £7 of dividend income into UK pension pots there is also the fact that BP employs thousands of UK citizens. This war of words with the President of America is set to get worse in the short term with Obama facing midterm elections later this year with his approval rating at an all-time low. Indeed he is even ranked lower than George Bush in his response to Hurricane Katrina. So what can David Cameron do?
The UK prime minister is set to talk with his US counterpart over the weekend and is being urged to defend British assets with Obama suggesting that BP should suspend dividend payments and use these funds to cover the cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico spill.
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