Bill Clinton turned down an invitation to have tea with the Queen because he “wanted to be a tourist” in London, newly released official papers show.
The US president was visiting the UK in 1997 – four weeks after Tony Blair came to power – and said he wanted to hit the shops and eat Indian food.
Previously classified documents show Mr Clinton, Mr Blair and their wives Hillary and Cherie ended up dining at a French restaurant in London Bridge – complete with beer and fine wine.
Image: The Clintons and the Blairs headed for dinner instead
Memos between Whitehall aides show Mr Clinton was invited to Buckingham Palace to 5pm tea.
But a letter written by Downing Street private secretary Philip Barton said: “The Americans said that the president and Mrs Clinton were very grateful for HM The Queen’s invitation to tea at the palace, but would wish to decline politely.”
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The restaurant bill racked up by the Blairs and Clintons is also among the series of files released by the National Archives in Kew, dating back to Mr Blair’s first few months in government.
They spent a total of £298.86 at Le Pont de La Tour – and the bill featured £20 wild salmon, £19.50 grilled sole, £18 halibut, a £2.95 Budvar beer, and a bottle of Mas de Duamas 1995 wine priced at £34.75.
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Image: Tensions were high between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair’s aides
Blair and Brown tensions
The latest tranche of official papers from 1997 also shows that Mr Blair’s aides wanted Gordon Brown‘s spin doctor “out on his ear” amid fears that unauthorised briefings were damaging the new Labour government.
Files suggest officials struggled to manage tensions between the administration’s two most dominant figures right from their early days in office.
Peter Mandelson – one of Mr Blair’s ministers – repeatedly complained about the actions of Charles Whelan, who served as Mr Brown’s press secretary.
Mr Whelan was accused of planting a series of hostile stories about Mr Mandelson that were making the government “look foolish, and worse”.
A frank note written to Mr Blair also suggested that Mr Brown was using his chairmanship of cabinet committees to “bludgeon through” his own policies.
Image: A referendum on Scottish devolution was held in 1997
Scottish independence worries
The now-unclassified documents from 1997 also show that Downing Street advisers had conceded that Scotland could have a referendum on “anything it wants” without Westminster’s consent.
Even back then, key aides to the prime minister said “a couple of very worried Scottish MPs” were concerned about “the slippery slope to independence”.
Scotland voted in favour of devolution in September 1997, with Labour pledging that the country would be able to set up its own parliament responsible for education, health, transport and other matters.
It was not until 2014 that an independence referendum was held, with 55% voting against proposals for Scotland to break away from the rest of the UK.
Image: Tony Blair greets well-wishers at Downing Street after winning the 1997 election
Blair’s Irish famine message ‘written by aides’
The documents also reveal that Mr Blair’s headline-grabbing admission that the British government was culpable for the Irish Famine was actually hastily ghost-written by his aides.
At the 150th anniversary commemoration in Cork, a message was read on the prime minister’s behalf that said: “That one million people should have died in what was then part of the richest and most powerful nation in the world is something that still causes pain as we reflect on it today.
“Those who governed in London at the time failed their people through standing by while a crop failure turned into a massive human tragedy.”
A request from remarks from Mr Blair was made at the last minute, and they were approved by his private secretary because the prime minister was “not around at the time”.
Image: The Millennium Dome cost £758m and opened on 31 December 1999
Millennium Dome could have been tribute to Diana
Records also reveal that plans had been considered to make the Millennium Dome a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales – and also faced the prospect of being scrapped altogether.
According to the PM’s director of communications Alastair Campbell, a member of the Dome’s board had proposed that the “Millennium project be completely refashioned, the site extended, to accommodate, for example, a hospital, businesses, charities, private residences, and the whole thing named ‘the Princess Diana Centre’.”
Separately, one of Mr Blair’s aides said: “Diana’s death could give us a semi-plausible excuse to cancel.”
The attraction cost £758m and opened on 31 December 1999, but it only drew 6.5 million visitors in 2000 – far fewer than the 12 million that had been budgeted for.
It was later closed and replaced with The O2, which has hosted concerts, sporting events and other entertainment since 2007.
Responding to a report about crypto ATM fraud in Wyoming, Senator Cynthia Lummis said the chamber’s market structure bill could address specific risks.
According to the lawsuit, Justin Sun’s crypto holdings included about 60 billion Tron, 17,000 Bitcoin, 224,000 Ether and 700 million Tether as of February.
The Home Office has lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a High Court ruling granting an Eritrean man a temporary block on being deported to France.
The ruling will be a blow to ministers, who had been hoping to make headway with their “one in, one out” migrant returns deal with France.
Under the deal, the UK can send back any migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in return for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim here.
However, only four people have been deported under the scheme so far, including one Afghan individual who was deported to France this afternoon.
The Eritrean man was granted a temporary block on his removal after he claimed he had been a victim of modern slavery.
The government has said up to 50 people a week could be deported under the scheme initially, but it believes numbers would grow and eventually act as a deterrent to those considering making the dangerous journey across the Channel.
The latest Home Office figures show 1,072 people made the journey in 13 boats – averaging more than 82 people per boat. It means the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.
She has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to end crossings – but the Conservatives have branded the “one in, one out” deal with France “meagre” and have called for their Rwanda policy to be reinstated.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Yet again the courts have stepped in to block a deportation, proving what we warned from the start, unless you tackle the lawfare strangling Britain’s borders, nothing will change.
“This is nothing but a gimmick. Even if by some miracle it worked, it would still be no deterrent, as 94 per cent of arrivals would still stay.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK has promised to crack down on both legal and illegal migration.
On Monday, he announced fresh policies to reduce legal migration, saying his party would ban access to benefits to migrants and get rid of indefinite leave to remain – the term used to describe the right to settle in the UK, with access to benefits, after five years.