Mr Cameron struck a self-consciously upbeat tone during much of the speech as he invoked what he called "the British spirit".

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Which may go some way towards explaining the tone of President Obama's speech this week.

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Despite this, the self-assured tone of Mr Brown's speech to Parliament is understandable.

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Cantor's tone and the substance of his speech are a departure from previous major speeches he's delivered that centered on helping small businesses expand the economy.

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He struck a very personal tone at the start of his speech, talking about his upbringing and how his parents' experience as refugees fleeing the Nazis had shaped his values and paying tribute to his "extraordinary" brother David.

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For the Welsh Liberal Democrats Peter Black said that he regretted the tone of parts of Janet Finch Saunders' speech, which he said was based on "half-truths".

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Unlike his previous two speeches -- at the U.S. Naval Academy and before the Council on Foreign Relations -- some members of the audience were not supportive of Bush's policies, as suggested by the tone of questions the president unexpectedly invited after his speech.

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Mervyn King's speech in Liverpool on Tuesday night was noteworthy for its gloomy tone - and, perhaps most of all, for what he didn't say.

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