The insanity that has been the last week of British politics looks to be coming to an end. Somehow a coalition made up of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives will be ruling Britain (at the pleasure of the Queen, of course.) The Tories did go further than I imagined they would to make this deal happen, a referendum on AV and several cabinet posts to name a few. It seems Nick Clegg will be deputy PM, with other Senior Lib-Dems, including Danny Alexander and Vince Cable, in important roles. Yet, I’m unclear as to how this...
Continue reading...tories
Another unelected Prime Minister for the U.K.?
A bit ago, I made a (likely inebriated) prediction to Estes that I suspected that David Miliband, who had served as Foreign Secretary in the last Labour government, would be Prime Minister before 2011. And, gosh darn it, it looks as though it might be closer to reality. Gordon Brown today announced that he will resign as soon as a new government is formed, an action that had been predicted would be a necessary preerequisite to any deal with the Liberal Democrats to form a government. The Lib Dems had first approached the Tories because the Tories...
Continue reading...With Apologies to Howard Dean: What Happened Yesterday
(Some quick thoughts while Estes collects his) Well, the U.K. voted yesterday. The results were not terribly surprising: The Tories won a plurality of seats, but not enough to form a majority government. This much was expected. However, what was not expected was the relative strength of Labour or the precipitous downfall of the Liberal Democrats. I’ll start where the story is now, and move on to what I suspect happened. The onus is on Gordon Brown to form a government, and if he cannot, to step down and allow somebody else to do so. I don’t...
Continue reading...Champions and Also-Rans
The British Parliament is holding elections on Thursday, with perennial majority Labour looking certain to lose 10 Downing St. to the Tories, or perhaps the Liberal Democrats. Today, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City — the English football teams supported by Ghost of Hemingway’s Gun and Estes, respectively, square off in Manchester to potentially decide who finishes fourth in the English Premier League, reaping the financial windfall (and prestige bump) of appearing in the Champions League, in which neither has appeared for at least a decade. Estes and I are here to guide you through both of these...
Continue reading..."Sweating like Vegas Elvis on a squash court" or Liveblogging the Brits part 2.
In the last week, Nick Clegg, of the Liberal Democrats, went from leader of the third party to the leader of the tied for first (for the first time in 104 years!!!) party, to being unfairly demonized by the Daily Mail party. Shock. Any, in about two minutes Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg slug it out over foreign policy. Perhaps there will be a tea break in about half and hour. We’re just not quite sure. 3:00- Brown starts it out. Nothing to write, nothing. 3:02- Cameron wants to help families. Great foreign policy talking...
Continue reading...Liveblogging the first ever British debate (except for, basically, every week in Parliament)
3.35- Clegg opens. Fairness, greedy bankers, etc…Also, the background looks like a children’s show set from the 1980’s. The Early 1980’s. 3.36- Brown and Cameron spoke. Yawn. 3.38- This seems like a Senatorial debate in the States. NO CHEF’S FROM OUTSIDE THE EU!!!!, Really Gordon? Really? That is where you go, the food makers? Have you tried finding good Mexican food in Britain? It’s impossible, because of THE LACK OF FUCKING IMMIGRATION FROM OUTSIDE THE EU. 3.48- Cameron just talked about robbers burning down a house. Yikes. 4.31- Totally stopped watching. 4.32- Clegg doesn’t like bureaucrats. Really...
Continue reading...Walking around the Garden of Eden moaning about the lack of mobile reception
While PM Gordon Brown has yet to officially call a general election in Britain, it is widely assumed that it will happen 56 days from today when the English local elections are scheduled. For two years, the consensus has been that a Tory victory is inevitable. After the failed experiment that was the Iraq War, a faltering economy and a falling pound, fortunes have slightly turned for Labour in the run-up to the Gordon Brown’s first contest as leader. While even now few think Labour will garner enough seats to maintain an outright electoral majority, there is...
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