British Prime Minister in talks with UN Secretary General

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will today have talks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon – and urged world leaders to live up to millennium promises tackling issues ranging from world poverty to the fight against Aids.

Mr Brown’s private discussions with the Secretary General come as Britain, the United States and EU allies are pressing hard for a fresh UN resolution aimed at halting the bloodshed in Darfur.

But Mr Brown is not expected to deliver a public lecture on the subject when he addresses an invited audience at the UN HQ in New York this afternoon.

Instead, said aides, he will focus on trying to find practical ways of meeting the ambitious goals set by world leaders in 2000.

Mr Brown is expected to acknowledge that some progress has been made, and good progress on a handful of issues, but stress much more needs to be done by world leaders.

He is expected to highlight ways of taking new initiatives involving both the private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), seeking to move away from a summit-based approach where pledges are renewed once a year.

Mr Brown’s visit to New York comes at the end of his first trip to the United States since taking over at Number 10 last month.

It comes as he continues to enjoy a surge of popularity in the polls, the most recent putting his party six points clear of the Conservatives in the UK.

Yesterday he had Camp David talks with President George Bush where Mr Brown stressed the two countries’ shared values and common approach to combating terrorism.

Mr Bush said that Britain and America shared important values, adding that the world stood at the start of a “great ideological battle” between the forces of freedom and “cold-blooded killers”.

Standing alongside Mr Brown on the lawn at Camp David, Mr Bush said: “The notion of America and Britain sharing values is very important and we have an obligation, it seems to me, to work for freedom and justice around the world.

“I found him a person who shares that vision and who understands the call.

“After all, we are writing the initial chapters of what I believe is a great ideological struggle between those of us who do believe in freedom and justice and human rights and human dignity and cold-blooded killers who will kill innocent people to achieve their objectives.”

Mr Brown said it was a “great honour” to hold talks with the US President and “to affirm and to celebrate the historic partnership of shared purpose” between the nations.

On Iraq, Mr Brown said there were “duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep” in support of the government.

He said the aim was “step-by-step” to move control to the Iraqi forces and authorities.

Mr Brown said the intention was to move to “overwatch” status in the fourth and final province controlled by UK forces when circumstances allow.

“Our aim, as is the aim of the US Government, is threefold: security for the Iraqi people, political reconciliation and that the Iraqis have a stake in the future.”

Mr Bush was later asked by BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson if he could trust Mr Brown, as he did his predecessor, Tony Blair, not to “cut and run” from Iraq.

Mr Bush added: “There is no doubt in my mind that Gordon Brown understands that failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the security of our own countries; that failure in Iraq would embolden extremist movements throughout the Middle East; that failure in Iraq would basically say to people sitting on the fence around the region that al-Qaida is powerful enough to drive great countries like Great Britain and America out of Iraq before the mission is done.”

He said: “The consequences of failure would be disaster for Great Britain and the US, something this Prime Minister understands.”