|
Developments in Britain
(Note: the below entry was drafted yesterday at 1 p.m. Today, some British papers are reporting that Brown will resign tonight and that the Lib Dems will meet tonight to discuss a deal that will allow Cameron to be prime minister. Another story says that the Lib Dems “resumed talks with the Tories this afternoon” after Lib Dem negotiators were “unimpressed with a new offer from Labour to stage a referendum on proportional representaiton after the next general election.” Here is the London Times’ up to the minute blog on breaking developments through the day. One source quoted in the blog says there is going to be a full Con-Lib coalition government, with the Lib Dems having six seats in the cabinet. )
At present [May 10, 1 p.m.], it is far from certain that Cameron can work out a deal with Clegg acceptable to both their parties. The present possible scenarios are: (1) a Con-Lib deal, which, based on the objections that both Conservative members and Lib-Dem members have to it, as explained in this article, I see as unlikely; (2) a go-it-alone, Conservative minority government, which many Conservatives are calling for; and (3) a Lab-Lib deal, which has been made possible by Brown’s dramatic announcement that he will step down as party leader, which, however, would not take place until a new leader is elected in the fall, allowing Brown to remain as prime minister for the next several months. Email entry |