Britain’s Coalition of Pain
By ALEX MASSIE
NYT
London
DAVID CAMERON spoke for Britain on Tuesday. Asked by a reporter if there was anything to report from the latest rounds of interparty negotiations over building a government from the rubble of last week’s election, Mr. Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, joked: “I don’t know. No one tells me anything any more.”
Most predictions these past few days were as durable as sunshine in England in spring but, nevertheless, Mr. Cameron is our prime minister, replacing Gordon Brown, and our three-sided parliamentary version of the War of the Roses has come to an end.
The best and worst aspects of Mr. Brown’s character were revealed in the manner of his departure. His semi-resignation on Monday represented the worst: his plan to remain at 10 Downing Street until autumn if Labour was to be part of the new government had little to do with the national interest. Rather, it was a political suicide bombing, intended only to wreck the prospects of a coalition between the Tories and the third-place party, Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.
By contrast, Mr. Brown’s second resignation, from the office of prime minister on Tuesday, showed him at his dignified best. Even opponents could feel some sympathy as the curtain fell on his career. Soon after, Mr. Cameron arrived at Buckingham Palace to “kiss hands” with Queen Elizabeth II and become, at 43, the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.
(More here.)
NYT
London
DAVID CAMERON spoke for Britain on Tuesday. Asked by a reporter if there was anything to report from the latest rounds of interparty negotiations over building a government from the rubble of last week’s election, Mr. Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, joked: “I don’t know. No one tells me anything any more.”
Most predictions these past few days were as durable as sunshine in England in spring but, nevertheless, Mr. Cameron is our prime minister, replacing Gordon Brown, and our three-sided parliamentary version of the War of the Roses has come to an end.
The best and worst aspects of Mr. Brown’s character were revealed in the manner of his departure. His semi-resignation on Monday represented the worst: his plan to remain at 10 Downing Street until autumn if Labour was to be part of the new government had little to do with the national interest. Rather, it was a political suicide bombing, intended only to wreck the prospects of a coalition between the Tories and the third-place party, Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.
By contrast, Mr. Brown’s second resignation, from the office of prime minister on Tuesday, showed him at his dignified best. Even opponents could feel some sympathy as the curtain fell on his career. Soon after, Mr. Cameron arrived at Buckingham Palace to “kiss hands” with Queen Elizabeth II and become, at 43, the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.
(More here.)
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