British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reeling.
Heralded by his predecessor Tony Blair as a "big, clunking fist" who would crush rivals with his political heft, lately the new leader has been flailing in the dark.
Efforts to regain the initiative after a humiliating backdown on calling an early election have flopped -- and bad news just keeps piling up, from a string of policy debacles to growing signs of an economic slowdown.
"My instinct is he's in a lot of trouble," said Andrew Russell, a senior politics lecturer at the University of Manchester.
Events have been unkind since Brown took office in June after Blair resigned, with attempted terror attacks, widespread floods, animal disease outbreaks and the first run on a British bank in a century.
Brown had initially won high marks for statesmanlike handling of terror threats and natural disasters -- setting him off on a political honeymoon.
But then came a monumental blunder that turned the tide against him: After fueling rampant speculation he would call an election to secure his own popular mandate, he lost his nerve and backed down as his opinion poll ratings dived.
"The edifice crumbled at that moment," Russell said. "It's tempting to see the credibility ebbing away from that moment."
Policy crises have been cascading ever since. Officials lost count of foreign workers in Britain, Brown announced troops already at home were soon to be withdrawn from Iraq and -- in the most serious case -- ministers said on Monday that personal data, including bank details, on half the population were lost in the post.
The string of woes has exposed Brown's inability to fend off troublesome events with the elan of Blair -- who won the epithet "Teflon Tony" for his knack for dodging blame.
A resurgent opposition has added pressure on Brown, with Conservative chief David Cameron emerging from his own troubled summer with smart new policy ideas and sharp lines of attack.
Cameron has consistently outsmarted Brown as they trade barbs in the circus-like atmosphere of the leader's weekly House of Commons questions session.
Brown should "show some broad shoulders, be the big man, take some responsibility," Cameron taunted on Wednesday last week.
A restive public has also shown skepticism for Brown's government.
As government ministers urged savers not to withdraw deposits from ailing mortgage lender Northern Rock, lines snaked around town centers with investors eager to empty accounts.
Banks have fielded calls from anxious clients now worried over the loss of their personal data.
An ICM poll published on Nov. 11 put Cameron's Tories at 45 percent, ahead of Brown's Labour with 35 percent. ICM questioned 1001 people by telephone between Nov. 8 and Nov. 10. No margin of error was given, but in samples of a similar size it is plus or minus three points.
"There's a real fear that we are sleepwalking to a Tory government," said John McDonnell, a lawmaker who attempted to run against Brown as leader. "People are looking for change."
After a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease -- which affects cows and pigs -- was confirmed on Thursday last week at a government laboratory previously cleared to resume work, political opponents sounded exasperated.
"This government's credibility is rapidly falling apart," opposition Conservative lawmaker Peter Ainsworth said.
Brown has even been half-jokingly blamed for recent England soccer and rugby defeats, accused of jinxing teams when he watches in person. The leader "has not necessarily been the best of omens," his spokesman Michael Ellam acknowledged.
Brown's woes seemingly extend to the international stage too, where his chilly formality at a July summit with US President George W. Bush seemed calculated to appease domestic critics of the Iraq War, but did little to impress Washington.
Seeking to soothe relations with the White House, Brown used a major speech last week to praise Bush's leadership on Middle East peace, hoping to secure London's place as the closest ally of the US amid a charm offensive from France and Germany.
Meanwhile, energetic French President Nicolas Sarkozy has seemingly filled Blair's place on the global stage, elbowing Brown aside as Europe's figurehead ally with Washington.
His "NYPD" T-shirts, shades and ebullience have endeared him to Bush, who calls Sarkozy his "partner in peace."
Despite Brown's woes, McDonnell believes the party chief will fight the next national election, which must take place before mid-2010.
"There is a lack of confidence, a fragility, a real lack of morale," McDonnell said.
That fragility has reduced Brown's clunking fist to a quiver, claims Russell, who said the leader trembled with nerves during a recent debate on his legislative agenda.
"When Brown was under pressure, his wrist was shaking," he said. "He actually turned a great strength into quite a frailty."
China has not been a top-tier issue for much of the second Trump administration. Instead, Trump has focused considerable energy on Ukraine, Israel, Iran, and defending America’s borders. At home, Trump has been busy passing an overhaul to America’s tax system, deporting unlawful immigrants, and targeting his political enemies. More recently, he has been consumed by the fallout of a political scandal involving his past relationship with a disgraced sex offender. When the administration has focused on China, there has not been a consistent throughline in its approach or its public statements. This lack of overarching narrative likely reflects a combination
US President Donald Trump’s alleged request that Taiwanese President William Lai (賴清德) not stop in New York while traveling to three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, after his administration also rescheduled a visit to Washington by the minister of national defense, sets an unwise precedent and risks locking the US into a trajectory of either direct conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or capitulation to it over Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities have said that no plans to request a stopover in the US had been submitted to Washington, but Trump shared a direct call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)
Heavy rains over the past week have overwhelmed southern and central Taiwan, with flooding, landslides, road closures, damage to property and the evacuations of thousands of people. Schools and offices were closed in some areas due to the deluge throughout the week. The heavy downpours brought by the southwest monsoon are a second blow to a region still recovering from last month’s Typhoon Danas. Strong winds and significant rain from the storm inflicted more than NT$2.6 billion (US$86.6 million) in agricultural losses, and damaged more than 23,000 roofs and a record high of nearly 2,500 utility poles, causing power outages. As
It is difficult to think of an issue that has monopolized political commentary as intensely as the recall movement and the autopsy of the July 26 failures. These commentaries have come from diverse sources within Taiwan and abroad, from local Taiwanese members of the public and academics, foreign academics resident in Taiwan, and overseas Taiwanese working in US universities. There is a lack of consensus that Taiwan’s democracy is either dying in ashes or has become a phoenix rising from the ashes, nurtured into existence by civic groups and rational voters. There are narratives of extreme polarization and an alarming
RSS