David Cameron is UK's new prime minister

nandu

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British PM Gordon Brown resigns

British PM Gordon Brown resigns



British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday his resignation as head of government and leader of the Labour Party.

He has advised the queen to appoint Conservative leader David Cameron in his place.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100511/158977826.html
 

plugwater

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Conservative leader David Cameron has become the UK's new prime minister after the resignation of Gordon Brown.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg will be his deputy after they agreed to the UK's first coalition government in 70 years.

Mr Cameron, who at 43 is the youngest PM in nearly 200 years, vowed to set aside party differences and govern "in the national interest".

Mr Clegg said he acknowledged some Lib Dem voters would have doubts about the deal but urged them to "keep faith".

Mr Cameron's party won the most seats in the general election last week, but not enough to secure an overall Commons majority, resulting in a hung Parliament.

'Unique opportunity'

Following hours of talks with the Conservatives on Tuesday, the Lib Dem parliamentary party and its federal executive endorsed the coalition agreement by the required three-quarters majority at a meeting that broke up just after midnight.

Speaking minutes later, Mr Clegg said: "I hope this is the start of the new politics I have always believed in - diverse, plural, where politicians of different persuasions come together, overcome their differences in order to deliver good government for the sake of the whole country."

He acknowledged there would be problems and "glitches" and, in a message to Lib Dem voters, he added: "I can imagine this evening you'll be having many questions, maybe many doubts, about this new governing arrangement.

"But I want to assure you that I wouldn't have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced that it offers a unique opportunity to deliver the kind of changes you and I believe in.

"So I hope you'll keep faith with us, I hope you will let us prove to you that we can serve you and this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do, and with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in Great Britain."

Meanwhile, details are emerging from Conservative sources about the new government's programme, including:

* Plans for five-year, fixed-term parliaments
* The Lib Dems have agreed to drop plans for a "mansion tax", while the Conservatives have ditched their pledge to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1m
* The new administration will scrap Labour's planned rise in National Insurance but some of the benefits will go on reducing income tax thresholds for lower earners
* A pledge to have a referendum on any further transfer of powers to the EU and a commitment from the Lib Dems not to adopt the euro for the lifetime of the next Parliament
* The Lib Dems have agreed to Tory proposals for a cap on non-EU migration
* The Conservatives will recognise marriage in the tax system - Lib Dems will abstain in Commons vote
* The Lib Dems will drop opposition to replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear missiles but the programme will be scrutinised for value for money
* There will be a "significant acceleration" of efforts to reduce the budget deficit - including £6bn of spending reductions this year
* There will be a referendum on moving to the Alternative Vote system and enhanced "pupil premium" for deprived children as Lib Dems demanded

Mr Cameron has begun the work of appointing his first cabinet, with the Tories' George Osborne as chancellor, William Hague as foreign secretary and Liam Fox as defence secretary.

Mr Clegg's chief of staff, Danny Alexander, who was part of the party's negotiating team, is to be Scottish Secretary, the BBC understands.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has been given responsibility for "business and banks" but it is not known if his title will be chief secretary to the Treasury, a senior Lib Dem source said.

A Downing Street spokesman said it had been agreed that five cabinet posts would be filled by Liberal Democrats, including the appointment of Mr Clegg, although there are expected to be about 20 Lib Dems in government jobs in total.

Mr Cameron's arrival in Downing Street marks the end of 13 years of Labour rule.

The coalition is also the first Liberal Democrat and Conservative power-sharing deal at Westminster in history.

Mr Cameron, who is six months younger than Tony Blair was when he entered Downing Street in 1997, is the youngest prime minister since 1812 and the first Old Etonian to hold the office since the early 1960s.

Barack Obama was the first foreign leader to congratulate Mr Cameron in a brief telephone call during which the US president invited the new prime minister to visit Washington in the summer, Downing Street said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also offered her congratulations and invited Mr Cameron to visit Berlin.

In a speech outside his new Downing Street home, after travelling to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the Queen's request to form the next government, Mr Cameron paid tribute to outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his long years of public service.

He also pledged to tackle Britain's "pressing problems" - the deficit, social problems and to "rebuild trust in our political system".

He said he aimed to "help build a more responsible society here in Britain... those who can should and those who can't, we will always help. I want to make sure that my government always looks after the elderly, the frail, the poorest in our country.

"We must take everyone through with us on some of the difficult decisions we have ahead.

"I came into politics because I love this country, I think its best days still lie ahead and I believe deeply in public service.

"I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our big challenges, to confront our problems, take difficult decisions, lead people through those decisions, so that together we can reach better times ahead."

Emotional statement

The Conservatives had been in days of negotiations with the Lib Dems - who also negotiated with Labour - after last Thursday's UK election.

Earlier the Lib Dems said talks with Labour had failed because "the Labour Party never took seriously the prospects of forming a progressive, reforming government".

A spokesman said key members of the Labour team "gave every impression of wanting the process to fail" and the party had made "no attempt at all" to agree a common approach on issues like schools funding and tax reform.

"Certain key Labour cabinet ministers were determined to undermine any agreement by holding out on policy issues and suggesting that Labour would not deliver on proportional representation and might not marshal the votes to secure even the most modest form of electoral reform," he said.

Labour's Lord Mandelson told the BBC they had been "up for" a deal, but the Lib Dems had "created so many barriers and obstacles that perhaps they thought their interests lay on the Tory side, on the Conservative side, rather than the progressive side".

After it became clear the talks had failed, Mr Brown tendered his resignation and said he wished the next prime minister well.

In an emotional resignation statement in Downing Street, Mr Brown thanked his staff, his wife Sarah and their children, who joined the couple as they left for Buckingham Palace.

Mr Brown said it had been "a privilege to serve" adding: "I loved the job not for its prestige, its titles and its ceremony - which I do not love at all. No, I loved the job for its potential to make this country I love fairer, more tolerant, more green, more democratic, more prosperous and more just - truly a greater Britain."

He also paid tribute to the courage of the armed forces, adding: "I will never forget all those who have died in honour and whose families today live in grief."

Later he thanked Labour activists and MPs for all their efforts and told them Labour's general election performance was "my fault, and my fault alone".

Mr Brown had announced on Monday that he would step down as Labour leader by September.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8675265.stm
 

plugwater

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Cameron's first speech as PM

 
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nandu

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British PM Cameron names new ministers

London, England -- David Cameron, Britain's youngest prime minister for almost two centuries, started work in Downing Street on Wednesday by appointing Cabinet ministers from his own Conservative party and coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was named deputy prime minister, arrived at Downing Street in the morning, where Cameron greeted him at the door. The two waved to reporters and patted each other briefly on the back before disappearing inside.

At a news conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon, Cameron said the new British coalition government was "a five-year government." With Clegg standing at his side, Cameron assured the public that new elections would not need to be called soon.

The names of several Cabinet ministers were confirmed by their respective departments Wednesday, including William Hague as foreign secretary; George Osborne as chancellor of the exchequer, which is equivalent to treasury secretary; and Liam Fox as defense secretary. All are from the Conservative Party.

Other Conservative appointments included Theresa May as home secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary, Andrew Lansley as health secretary, and Michael Gove as education secretary, Downing Street said.

In addition to Clegg as deputy prime minister, four other Liberal Democrats will also be named to Cabinet posts, Downing Street and the party said.

Downing Street named two of them as Vince Cable, who is now the business secretary, and David Laws, who was made the chief secretary to the treasury.

The decision by Cameron and Clegg to enter a coalition capped five days of uncertainty that followed last Thursday's election, in which no party received a majority.

Days of negotiations between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown resulted in the announcement of a coalition between the Conservatives and Lib Dems.

"I'm absolutely delighted that we do have a new government," Gove told CNN on Wednesday.

"I think the really important thing is that the policies that we were arguing for during the course of the election, and the policies of the Liberal Democrats, have now been brought together on a platform which will give the country exactly the type of government that it needs at this time -- strong and stable."

Cable, of the Liberal Democrats, said he realized the challenges of working with Osborne, of the Conservatives, in his new role. Financial analyst David Buik of London-based BGC Partners said he was "skeptical" of the pairing, however.

"What concerns me is the missing chemistry, the possible missing chemistry, that may be from the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, particularly in areas such as finance," Buik told CNN. "The Conservatives were very keen to deal with the budget deficit PDQ, and Vince Cable was adamant until a few weeks ago in waiting until the new year."

At the Foreign Office, the new national security council planned to meet Wednesday. Cameron established the council to oversee all aspects of Britain's security, and appointed longtime civil servant Peter Ricketts to be his national security advisor, the Foreign Office said.

Cameron will chair the council, whose members will include several top cabinet members. Its inaugural meeting Wednesday afternoon was focusing on Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office said.

"It is our most urgent priority here in my work to make sure we've got a grip on what is going on in Afghanistan," Hague told Sky News. "We will never forget that our troops are out there. We've been fighting some political battles here, but they are in a real battle out there."

Hague also vowed to protect the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, keeping it "solid but not slavish." The United States is an "indispensable partner" of Great Britain, Hague said.

Queen Elizabeth II named Cameron prime minister Tuesday night, shortly after Brown resigned.

Brown had said Monday he would step down as leader of his party by the fall, but he changed course Tuesday, announcing he was quitting his party post immediately.

His deputy, Harriet Harman, will lead the Labour Party until a leadership contest can be held, he told party activists.

His party came in second, behind the Conservatives, in parliamentary elections last week, but no party won an absolute majority.

Cameron, 43, becomes the country's first Conservative prime minister since the Labour Party, under Tony Blair, defeated John Major in 1997, and is the youngest for almost two centuries.

Coalition governments are extremely rare in British politics. The last time there was a "hung parliament" with no party holding a majority of the seats in the House of Commons was 1974. Coalition talks then between the Conservatives and Liberals failed, and a short-lived minority Labour government took power.

But Cameron said Tuesday a coalition government was "the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I believe we need so badly."

The two parties would command a clear majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, but have a number of key policy differences.

Cameron is Queen Elizabeth II's 12th prime minister -- including Harold Wilson twice, for his two non-consecutive terms -- since she was crowned in 1952.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/12/uk.cameron.conservative/index.html?hpt=T2
 

bhramos

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Conservative Cameron takes the reins in Britain

LONDON – Former rivals David Cameron and Nick Clegg hailed their new coalition government as the coming of a new era in British politics on Wednesday, glossing over policy differences but pledging to tackle the country's most pressing problem — the ballooning deficit.
The Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders stood in Downing Street's sun-dappled garden and promised that their partnership was united by common purpose and will survive for a full five-year term. They pledged sweeping reform to Parliament, civil liberties laws and on ties to Europe, and a renewed focus on the conflict in Afghanistan.
The Foreign Office said new Foreign Secretary William Hague would visit Washington Friday for talks sure to focus on the Afghan war.
With handshakes, wide smiles and a sprinkling of jokes, Clegg and Cameron showcased their extraordinary pact, which ousted ex-leader Gordon Brown, whose Labour Party held power for 13 years.
Soon after, former Foreign Minister David Miliband announced his bid for the leadership of Britain's opposition Labour Party. Long seen as the front-runner for the job, Miliband recently earned the backing of another early favorite, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, but may still face competition from a range of other Labour figures, not least his younger brother Ed Miliband, the former energy and climate change minister.
One-time foes Cameron and Clegg banded together after Britain's election last week denied all parties a majority — leaving the country with its first hung Parliament since 1974.
Britons struggling to make ends meet during a punishing recession gave no single group a mandate, and many were left enraged at politicians of all stripes after a damaging lawmakers' expense scandal last year.
"Until today, we have been rivals: now we are colleagues," said Clegg — the surprise upstart of Britain's election campaign, who won a newly enhanced profile but saw his party lose seats in the vote.
Side by side, Clegg turned to his new partner and spelled out their joint message. "This is what the new politics looks like," he said.
Cameron has appointed their joint Cabinet — including four other members of Clegg's Liberal Democrat party — and the men laid out a draft program for the next five years.
They pledged to keep Britain out of the euro currency until 2015 at least; agreed immediate 6 billion pounds (US$9 billion) cuts to government waste and vowed House of Lords members would be elected, rather than appointed.
Cameron said the government will immediately begin tackling Britain's record 153 billion-pound ($236 billion) deficit — and convene a first meeting Wednesday of a newly created a National Security Council, focused on the Afghanistan war.
Both look deeply relaxed in each other's company.
Reminded he had once been asked "What's your favorite joke" and answered "Nick Clegg," Cameron responded with an exaggerated grimace while Clegg asked, "did you really say that?" — and pretended to walk away from the podium.
"Come back," Cameron implored, adopting a comic tone, predicting former rivals on both sides will "have things that we said thrown back at us."
One of the first calls of congratulation to the new prime minister came from President Barack Obama, an acknowledgment of Britain's most important bilateral relationship. Obama invited Cameron to visit Washington this summer.
Both Cameron and Clegg have acknowledged that Labour's government under ex-leader Tony Blair was too closely tied to Washington's interests. Both men back the Afghanistan mission, but Cameron hopes to withdraw British troops within five years. Clegg has said he's uneasy at a rising death toll. Leaner coffers may also mean less money to enter foreign-led military operations.
The new foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that the new government wanted a "solid but not slavish relationship" with the United States and described the so-called special relationship between the two countries as being of "huge importance."
"No doubt we will not agree on everything," Hague said of the United States. "But they remain, in intelligence matters, in nuclear matters, in international diplomacy, in what we are doing in Afghanistan, the indispensable partner of this country."
Hague is expected to speak by telephone later to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and soon travel to the United States and Afghanistan.
Relations with European neighbors could also become problematic. Cameron's party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.
Their coalition agreement includes a tough stance over Europe, pledging to oppose the transfer of any additional sovereign power to Brussels.
Cameron extended his first invitation for formal talks to Sarkozy, who will visit London on June 18. The date is highly symbolic for France as it is the day that Charles de Gaulle launched his appeal from London via the BBC for the French to resist the Germans during World War II.
The new British leader also spoke Wednesday with two key allies, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The new British chief has vowed to build a "new special relationship" with India, believing the country can become a major political and trade partner.
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 and has earned the backing of another early favorite, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
Brown's deputy Harriet Harman becomes interim Labour leader until a formal leadership takes place to select his permanent successor.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years — the last was Lord Liverpool at 42.
Cameron named 38-year-old Conservative lawmaker George Osborne as Treasury chief, the youngest chancellor for more than a century — and, critics say, one of the most inexperienced.
Liberal Democrat negotiator David Laws was appointed as chief secretary to the Treasury — a highly respected role as deputy to Osborne. Vince Cable, the highly popular Liberal Democrat deputy leader, becomes business secretary. Lawmaker Liam Fox will serve as defense secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary and Theresa May as Home Office secretary.
Other leading positions were being finalized, as were key policy decisions ahead of the presentation of the coalition's first legislative program on May 25.
Both sides made compromise to strike their deal. Cameron promised Clegg a referendum on his key issue: reform of Britain's electoral system aimed at creating a more proportional system. In turn, Clegg ditched opposition to a 20 billion pound ($32 billion) program to replacing the country's fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512...jbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNjb25zZXJ2YXRpdmU-
 

Armand2REP

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Just as was thought, a Tory/LibDem coalition. Tories have saved the Trident replacement in negotiations, that means aircraft carriers, F-35s, and Typhoons are the target cuts.
 

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