Clegg Warns Against "Spat" With US Over Oil Spill

11th Jun 2010 13:26

MADRID (AFP)--U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg warned Friday against allowing a "diplomatic spat" to develop with the United States over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster involving British energy giant BP. "I think everyone is united on both sides of Atlantic, quite rightly and understandably within the U.S. administration and I'm sure within BP itself, to deal with this problem," he said when asked at a Madrid economic forum about U.S. President Barack Obama's call for BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward to be fired. "It is an ecological catastrophe. It does need to be dealt with. I don't frankly think we will reach a solution to stopping the release of oil into the ocean any quicker by allowing this to spiral into a tit-for-tat political diplomatic spat." "So I and whole of the British government want to play our role, as much as we can, our constructive role to find a solution to what is a huge environmental disaster," he added. Antipathy in Washington towards the U.K.-registered global company is causing disquiet among business leaders and politicians in London, as the price of BP's shares --a staple of many pension funds--has plunged on concerns over the spiralling cost of the clean-up operation. U.K. newspapers hit back at Obama Friday for his tone towards BP as fears grew that he could be stoking an anti-U.K. backlash over the oil spill, and urged Prime Minister David Cameron to stand up to the U.S. president. Oil has been spewing from a well in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the worst oil spill in U.S. history. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 08:26 ET (12:26 GMT)