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Brown refuses to see Dalai Lama in Downing Street to avoid confrontation with China
Last updated at 09:37am on 13.05.08
Controversy: The Dalai Lama is coming to Britain for 11 days next week but will not be meeting Gordon Brown at Downing Street
The Prime Minister will received the leader at Lambeth Palace, the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, at their meeting next week instead of at Number 10.
It has been claimed this will allow Mr Brown to tell the Chinese that he is receiving the Dalai Lama in a spiritual rather than political capacity.
Supporters of the leader have already written to the premier urging him to reconsider, according to the Times.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said there was "no reason" why the meeting should not take place at Downing Street.
He said: "The suspicion must be that he is responding to the Chinese Government."
Meanwhile, the Tories have leapt on the change of heart as further evidence of Mr Brown's "dithering".
A source close to David Cameron told the Times: "He seems completely incapable of making a decision and sticking to it."
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Handshake: The Dalai Lama was allowed into the White House to meet President Bush but is not going to Number 10, amid speculation it is to avoid a confrontation with the Chinese
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Prime Minister should be prepared to meet all leaders at Downing Street.
But the Prime Minister's spokesman has dismissed suggestions that the choice of location has been designed to appease the Chinese government.
The talks, to take place a week on Friday, come amid concern about recent violence in Tibet and China's hostility towards the province's spiritual leader.
Change of plan: The meeting has been moved from Number 10 (pictured) to Lambeth Palace
"I think the important point is that the Prime Minister is meeting the Dalai Lama," he said.
"Quite where he meets him is not really going to add anything of great substance to the fact of the meeting.
"It's simply worth noting that on the two previous occasions when the Dalai Lama visited the UK he did not have meetings with the then prime minister."
He added: "No doubt there will be an opportunity to discuss the recent developments and the recent situation in Tibet, as you would expect, but just so we are clear, he is meeting him as a spiritual leader."
Changing the meeting's location breaks with a tradition which saw both Tony Blair and John Major meet the Dalai Lama at Number 10. President Bush has also received him at the White House.
The Dalai Lama's 11-day visit to Britain, which starts on May 20, will involve political and spiritual events.
He will also take part in a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Representatives of the Dalai Lama met Chinese officials for talks last week about the violence in Tibet two months ago.
China has accused the spiritual leader of causing the violence and attempting to undermine the Beijing Olympics.
It was the first contact between the two sides since anti-China protests in the capital Lhasa erupted into fully-fledged riots in March.
China said at least 19 people were killed by demonstrators but Tibetan exiles claimed almost 100 were killed by China's security forces.
Reader views (2)
What a weak and pathetic figure Brown now cuts in the world. He will surely go down in history as the weakest prime minister of modern times. He has shown he has no bottle for a fight and will back down when challenged. If he had any sense he would deny his back stabbers the opportunity to oust him by calling a general election. I don't think the country is prepared to have another unelected loser so soon after the last.
- Duncan Walker, Samui Thailand, 13/05/2008 05:16
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What a coward Brown is! I had written to congratulate him on agreeing to meet the Dalai Lama, despite my being angry at the 10p tax band idiocy, which directly affects me, and blow me, if he doesn't have the courage to stick by anything...the Dalai Lama deserves more respect than all the Chinese government, we should be boycotting made in China, in my view, until they respect basic human rights.
- Jean, London,England, 12/05/2008 16:15
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