Poll: Britain staunchest U.S. ally

PRINCETON, N.J., March 3 (UPI) -- Americans view Britain very positively and is the country most likely to be regarded by them as the United States' most valuable ally, a poll indicates.

The Gallup Poll, released Tuesday as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Washington for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, asked U.S. respondents to choose which of five highly rated countries from a previous poll they considered to be the United States' "most valuable ally."

Two in three respondents choose one of the United States' primary English-speaking allies -- Britain or Canada -- which were also the two countries that received the highest favorable ratings in Gallup's Feb. 9-12 World Affairs survey.

Non-Hispanic whites (40 percent) were more likely than nonwhites (26 percent) to name Britain as the most valuable U.S. ally but Britain was the most frequently chosen country for both groups. Nonwhites, meanwhile, were about as likely to name Japan (22 percent) and Canada (22 percent) as to name Britain.

Gallup said the poll results were based on telephone interviews with 1,023 people conducted Feb. 27-28. Its sampling error was 3 percentage points.