PM sets out vision for life after Bush

Gordon Brown is preparing the world for "life after Bush" by seeking an outline agreement this year on major reforms to international bodies and eventual moves to dismantle nuclear weapons.

Although aides insist the Prime Minister has a good working relationship with George Bush, the outgoing President is seen as an obstacle to reform.

Mr Brown discussed his plans with Chinese and Indian leaders during a four-day visit to their countries which ended last night. He will raise them privately at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week and with his French, German and Italian counterparts at joint talks in London next week.

In a speech on foreign policy in Delhi, he said: "I do not envisage a new world founded on the narrow and conventional idea of isolated states pursuing their own selfish interests. Instead I see a world that harnesses for the common good the growing interdependence of nations, cultures and peoples that makes a truly global society.

"We will be at the forefront of the international campaign to accelerate disarmament among possessor state, to prevent proliferation and to ultimately achieve a world free from nuclear weapons."