Will G8 bear fruit?

Now the expectations game gives way to the main event. For weeks, the sherpas – those who guide the leaders to the summit – have been engaged in the age-old political sport of managing hopes. Last week word came that the G8 would split, as Tony Blair would side with his colleagues against George Bush over the issue of climate change. That duly brought dire expectations of failure at Gleneagles: the club of powerful nations would break up into a G7 and a G1.