mburbank
Nov 19th, 2003, 03:37 PM
Bush to Keep Distance from Protests on London Trip
By Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, who leaves Tuesday for a state visit to Britain where he is deeply unpopular, may hear few of the shouts of anti-war protesters who will pour into London's streets to vent anger at his policies.
When the president and his wife, Laura, touch down at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday evening, they will be whisked to Buckingham Palace and largely kept in what he himself describes as a security-enclosed bubble -- cut off from activity in the rest of the city.
Amid warnings of a possible al Qaeda attack, the White House is said to have insisted on extremely careful precautions and such events as the traditional horse-drawn carriage ride with Queen Elizabeth will not be part of the trip.
Nor will Bush address Parliament. To do so might have invited a public relations disaster as Bush likely would have faced a similar spectacle to the one he endured in Australia when his speech to parliament was twice interrupted by heckling.
Instead, Bush's itinerary includes a banquet with the Queen, a speech on the transatlantic alliance at Whitehall Palace, meetings with British soldiers and their families and an event on HIV/AIDS.
Lamenting the constraints of moving around with a large entourage, Bush last week told British journalists, "I travel in somewhat of a bubble."
He was explaining why the last day of his trip, when he will tour the countryside in Prime Minister Tony Blair's home district, will be a refreshing change of pace.
But analysts said the bubble in which Bush travels will serve him well politically.
It will spare him from such embarrassments as being photographed in the same frame as placards protesting his policies and demonstrators tearing down his effigy in imitation of the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad.
By Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, who leaves Tuesday for a state visit to Britain where he is deeply unpopular, may hear few of the shouts of anti-war protesters who will pour into London's streets to vent anger at his policies.
When the president and his wife, Laura, touch down at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday evening, they will be whisked to Buckingham Palace and largely kept in what he himself describes as a security-enclosed bubble -- cut off from activity in the rest of the city.
Amid warnings of a possible al Qaeda attack, the White House is said to have insisted on extremely careful precautions and such events as the traditional horse-drawn carriage ride with Queen Elizabeth will not be part of the trip.
Nor will Bush address Parliament. To do so might have invited a public relations disaster as Bush likely would have faced a similar spectacle to the one he endured in Australia when his speech to parliament was twice interrupted by heckling.
Instead, Bush's itinerary includes a banquet with the Queen, a speech on the transatlantic alliance at Whitehall Palace, meetings with British soldiers and their families and an event on HIV/AIDS.
Lamenting the constraints of moving around with a large entourage, Bush last week told British journalists, "I travel in somewhat of a bubble."
He was explaining why the last day of his trip, when he will tour the countryside in Prime Minister Tony Blair's home district, will be a refreshing change of pace.
But analysts said the bubble in which Bush travels will serve him well politically.
It will spare him from such embarrassments as being photographed in the same frame as placards protesting his policies and demonstrators tearing down his effigy in imitation of the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad.