Obama arrives in London

Today is definitely not a ‘slow news’ day, the morning began with Obama joining the Prime Minister in Downing Street for a spot of breakfast which was followed by a later than scheduled press conference. The rhetoric was unity and action, the details were sparse.

PMQs was another opportunity for Brown to welcome President Obama, clearly enjoying his role as G20 host.

However, Brown could not escape the shadow of MPs expenses in the commons. It seems Cameron has sensed the danger of short political gain over ‘porngate’ and the wider expenses rows, in the knowledge that an unedited dossier on all MPs expenses is supposedly being touted to the press, asking the PM to forget another review and to get the issue resolved with a leaders’ meeting. Not only a shrewd political move but perhaps a good move for parliament as a whole, to reinstate public confidence in the system.

Brown did agree to the meeting, whilst insisting that the issue was bigger than three men and that the Committee on Standards in Public Life should still carry out a review. The Tory leader also told the Commons that "once the talks are over Britain will still be left with the most appalling public finances". "This is a domestic problem and no international agreement is going to resolve it," he warned. "We should never leave Britain this exposed again."

Brown insisted, however, that the Conservatives are "misinterpreting" the facts and "getting everything wrong". "There is nobody coming to London with a policy of doing nothing," he said.

PMQs had barely finished, before more breaking news emerged; on the fringe of the G20 summit, President Obama (who is hosting a series of meetings) and his Russian counterpart released a statement stating that they have committed to holding talks aimed at reducing strategic weapon proliferation. Normally, this would be headline news; today it is little more than an aside.

Thousands of protestors have taken to the streets in the square mile as predicted, perhaps not bringing London to the standstill that was predicted by the police and the press. That said, an RBS branch in the city has been stormed and protestors are now clashing with riot police.