Part of the problem with state visits is that ceremony gets priority over substance. The social round of state banquet at Buckingham Palace and return dinner at the embassy tests the digestive systems of the political leaders rather than stretching their intellect. Indeed it is a curious convention of the placement protocol that they are seated too far apart to do any serious business

The eagle has landed. What then should Tony Blair be jotting down on his notepad this morning as the priorities to be resolved over the next couple of days?Most urgent is to secure a commitment from George Bush accepting that the recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling requires him to scrap the protectionist tariffs he slapped on our steel exports. Among the many ironies of this visit is that it comes only a fortnight before the deadline for the US to comply with the ruling or to face retaliatory measures by the EU.

It would be strange if a year that opened with Britain and the US as allies in a foreign war ended with the two countries on opposing sides in a trade war.Yesterday I heard Sir Christopher Meyer venting his frustration that while one part of the Bush administration was working with the British Army on planning a joint invasion of Iraq, another was busy designing a unilateral attack on the British steel industry. Sir Christopher was our ambassador in Washington during my time at the Foreign Office, and I know him to be totally committed to the transatlantic relationship. Tony Blair needs to warn President Bush that the loyalty of even the most enthusiastic atlanticist is put under impossible strain when the White House damages British economic interests at the same time as it demands support for American strategic interests. But the case for President Bush to climb down over steel tariffs does not rest just on special pleading by Britain. Washington cannot be a credible advocate of free trade in global forums while acting as the domestic champion of protectionism in electoral swing states such as Pennsylvania. After the WTO conference at Cancun the world faces a challenging enough task in reaching North-South agreement on how to make trade fair as well as free, without the two principal trade blocks of the North ending up in confrontation.The second pressing issue on Mr Blair’s checklist can be cribbed from Donald Rumsfeld’s recent memo conceding that we are in danger of losing ground in the war on terrorism.

The invasion of Iraq has been a spectacular own goal in the war on terrorism. On Sunday President Bush described Iraq to Sir David Frost as “a front in the war on terrorism”, which is a revealing admission from the man who only six months ago hailed the conquest of Iraq as a victory over terrorism. British intelligence has proved only too accurate in its assessment that the occupation of Iraq would open it up to al-Qa’ida and stimulate an Islamic jihad.Nor will the situation be improved by the current fireworks being provided by the US occupying forces, which might have been calculated to swell support for the guerrillas rather than suppress it. If I were an Iraqi citizen I suspect I would conclude from the decision to call the current US offensive Operation Iron Hammer that it is not designed to win my heart and mind. No guerrilla war can be defeated by satellite-guided missiles, however impressive the explosion may look at home on Fox TV.