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.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from