Britain woke up to a new political era yesterday with its first coalition government since World War II, an unlikely marriage between the right-wing Conservative Party under new Prime Minister David Cameron and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats.
With a handshake, smiles and waves, Cameron welcomed his new coalition partner, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, outside 10 Downing Street and set off on the business of running the country.
The alliance was necessary because no party won a majority of parliamentary seats in last week’s national vote.
PHOTO: EPA
Once described as sandal-wearing hippie academics, Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have emerged from the political fringe to the top rung of government. The party is expected to gain five Cabinet seats and more than a dozen junior government roles.
“Of course, we must recognize that all coalitions are about compromise,” Cameron wrote. “This one is no different.”
He said the coalition agreement commits the next government to a significantly accelerated reduction in the budget deficit, to cut £6 billion (US$8.9 billion) of government waste and to stop an increase in the national insurance tax.
Cameron, in an e-mail to supporters, said the agreement allows Conservatives to move forward on school and welfare reform and rejects Liberal Democrat pledges to get rid of nuclear submarines or offer amnesty to illegal immigrants.
The government will immediately begin tackling Britain’s record £153 billion deficit. It is still unclear whether the Liberal Democrats will back the Conservatives’ plan to begin immediate spending cuts — a punishing course of action that isn’t likely to win praise from the electorate.
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King gave a strong endorsement to the new government’s plans for attacking the deficit, calling it the single most important problem facing the United Kingdom.
The coalition published a joint policy agreement yesterday, announcing that Britain would not join or prepare to join Europe’s single currency and canceling controversial plans to build a third runway at London Heathrow airport.
Clegg and four more Liberal Democrats received Cabinet posts. The Conservatives said senior Member of Parliament (MP) George Osborne would serve as Treasury chief and MP Liam Fox as defense secretary. Other appointments include Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary and Theresa May as Home Office secretary.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain’s youngest prime minister in almost 200 years — the last was Lord Liverpool at 42.
One of the first calls of congratulation to the new prime minister came from US President Barack Obama, who invited Cameron to visit Washington this summer.
New Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC that the new government wanted a “solid but not slavish relationship” with the US and described the so-called special relationship between the two countries as being of “huge importance.”
Relations with European neighbors could become problematic. Cameron’s party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.
Labour, meanwhile, took steps to regroup, with the maneuvering under way for the job of party leader. David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, has emerged as a top candidate. Former prime minister Gordon Brown’s deputy Harriet Harman is interim leader until a permanent successor is named.
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