George Osborne today revealed that the relaxed atmosphere of the G8 summit was enforced by a strict “smart casual” dress code.
Eyebrows were raised when David Cameron greeted leaders in his shirtsleeves with an open collar. While the other seven leaders, including Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, kept their jackets on, ties were notably absent. Asked if it was coincidence that he too was without a tie today, the Chancellor said: “I did what I was told to do which was turn up in what they call ‘smart casual wear’ – I followed to the letter.
“The interesting thing about this conference… is, it is informal. Despite the enormous fuss that goes with having a conference like this, despite the huge media presence, actually when you get into the hotel it’s quite intimate and informal.”
The Prime Minister, nicknamed Dress Down Dave, wanted to return the G8 to its roots in 1975 when it was conceived as a “fireside chat”. Mr Cameron had a special table built that, at 6ft long, is just big enough for the leaders to sit around and too small to allow officials to join them.
The 10 statesmen — eight leaders plus the presidents of the EU and the European Commission — were left alone in the room without advisers in a lakeside lodge at Lough Erne.
A bar with a fire and Guinness and whiskey was reserved for them after dinner. Mr Osborne said the setting had proved effective at getting leaders to ditch “entrenched positions”. On tax he felt the summit had made “more progress in 24 hours than people have made in at least 24 years”.
