Barack Obama has arrived in London on the final leg of his whistle-stop tour of the Middle East and Europe.

He has already met the French president Nicolas Sarkozy - and the last handshake of the headline-grabbing trip will be with Conservative leader David Cameron, who he'll meet at the House of Commons before heading to the airport and home.

After a successful tour for Mr Obama, in London Britain's political elite will be hoping to get the best photo opportunity of the day with him.

Because before meeting Mr Cameron at the House of Commons he'll walk through the door of Number 10 Downing Street to meet Gordon Brown. And before that there'll be a breakfast meeting with former Prime Minister Tony Blair who's now a Middle East envoy.

Mr Blair's new role gives the two men a huge amount to talk about. Mr Obama has put the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli question at the heart of his foreign policy - pledging to 'roll his sleeves up' from the moment he takes office.

We're told that the conversation between Mr Brown and Mr Obama will build on a meeting the two had in Washington in April - the meeting then was described as 'warm and wide-ranging' and that theme will continue.

Last weekend both men were in Iraq - Mr Brown on Saturday and Mr Obama on Sunday - but they didn't bump into each other.

Having both made recent trips to the Middle East they'll have plenty to discuss - not least troop withdrawal from Iraq. Mr Obama has consistently stated that he wants to get US troop's home from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.


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