After outmaneuvering what amounted to an attempted coup last week by members of his own cabinet, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, confronted disastrous European election results Monday that could amplify calls within his party for his ouster.
With nearly all the votes counted, Mr. Brown’s Labor Party was beaten into a humiliating third place behind the small, euroskeptic United Kingdom Independence Party and the opposition Conservatives in first place.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said the vote showed a “desperately weak and divided government” locked with its internal adversaries in a “slow dance of political death.”
I think Brown is on the way out. He has aged about 10 years in the past 8 months.
Yes, he has visibly aged terribly and looks like a haunted man.
The Euro elections send a signal that the people are fed up with not being consulted. 70% of the legislation passed in our parliament originates in Brussels and must be nodded through. You may find that hard to believe over the pond, but it is true. 70%! Lots and lots of regulations. People say, we were never told it would be like this, when did any government or political party ever inform us, let alone tell us at election time that this would be their policy? Again, the swing to the right, even to the frighteningly hard right, shows anger about the open borders that we have. There is a feeling that this policy came in by the back door. And the trouble is that if you raise this issue then you are quickly accused of racism. All in all the elections are a big warning to the culture warriors who have foisted these horrors upon us.
Terry, refresh my memory but didn’t our side win World War II?
The fact that the Tories increased their vote is albeit small is significant. The Conservative party is the party of God King and Country and of course business. There is and has been a split between a nationalist wing and the chamber of commerce crowd who are more pro-Europe. It is quite possible (in fact likely) that the Tories gained votes from Labour which is to its left and lost votes to the BNP and the UKIP parties which are both to its “right” on the issue of further integration with Europe. If I were British, I would vote Conservative in local and national elections and in all liklihood UKIP in European elections.