While President Obama’s tough talk about BP has put some minds to rest here in the U.S., many in the British media are characterizing his tone as decidedly anti-Anglo. Although a decade has passed since the oil giant changed its name officially to BP from British Petroleum, that hasn’t stopped the White House from getting it wrong quite a few times recently. The editor of the UK’s The Spectator characterized Obama’s rhetoric as a political method of offloading blame to the British: “It is as if a few blokes from Stoke-on-Trent sailed over, and drilled a wildcat well – then buggered off and left Uncle Sam to suffer all the damage.”
Regardless of the White House’s motives, Britons do have reason to fear further injury to BP’s reputation. BP stock comprises 1/7th of the total investment in most British pension plans, and the stock has been taking a beating since the Deepwater Horizon accident. In a phone call with President Obama earlier this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron “stressed the economic importance of BP to the UK,” according to a spokesperson. The president assured Cameron that “frustrations about the oil spill have nothing to do with national identity.”
Comments