Then comes what must surely be one of the most obsequious things Obama – who is well used to adulation – has ever heard. Obama, says Cameron “has pressed the reset button on the moral authority of the entire free world”…

Then there was this passage, in which Cameron chucks in the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King for no apparent reason at all – other than, presumably and patronisingly, because Obama is black: “Half a century ago, the amazing courage of Rosa Parks, the visionary leadership of Martin Luther King, and the inspirational actions of the civil rights movement led politicians to write equality into the law and make real the promise of America for all her citizens.

“But in the fight for justice and the struggle for freedom, there is no end, because there is so much more to do to ensure that every human being can fulfill their potential. That is why our generation faces a new civil rights struggle, to seek the prize of the future that is open to every child as never before. Barack has made this one of the goals of his presidency, the goal he’s pursuing with enormous courage.”

What on earth is Cameron talking about? Gay marriage? Obama’s against that, publicly at least. Healthcare reform? Or maybe it’s just what it sounds – utter vacuity.