As Tony Blair prepared yesterday for his first visit to the White House since George W Bush became president, Mr Howard unveiled a group dedicated to preserving strong ties.

 The patrons of the Atlantic Partnership include John Major, the former prime minister, Henry Kissinger, a former American Secretary of State, senior European politicians and John Gilbert, a former Labour defence minister. 

Mr Howard said: "Its point is to alert people to the risks the people of the whole world would face if this great partnership were to degenerate into rivalry and perhaps even hostility."

 The "glue of the Cold War" had dissolved, but Europe and America could still work together fruitfully, he added. The partnership had been "one of the greatest forces for good in the world, at least for the last 50 years and it can continue to be for the next 50, but only if we all work hard at it".