Brown´s cosy meeting

By Jason Moore I don´t think Gordon Brown will be getting a Christmas card from Spanish leader, Rodriguez Zapatero, if either of them are still in power in 12 months time. Gordon Brown´s cosy get-together with Merkel, Sarkozy and Prodi in London on Tuesday night won him few friends in Madrid. Spain, probably quite rightly, wanted to know why they hadn´t been invited and the opposition Partido Popular said that it was a clear snub to Zapatero and underlined the fact that Spain was not at the heart of Europe like Zapatero likes to suggest. Oh dear! The official excuse is that only European members of the G8 had been invited but there does appear to have been some mixed messages over the meeting. If Italy was there (especially when Prodi has just resigned) it would have been a good idea to have Spain there also. Spain, whatever, Mr. Brown thinks, is now a key European state and yes, it is at the heart of Europe, unlike Mr. Brown who turned-up late for the signing of the historic European Constitution. Well perhaps Merkel will update Zapatero today in Majorca on the meeting called to discuss the latest financial crisis (not Northern Rock, the one from the other side of the Atlantic). I think Zapatero has met Gordon Brown once for a brief chat since he came to power last summer.