12.4.2010
(1) Irish Republican News, (2) Belfast Telegraph
Tuesday, 6 April, 2010
Wednesday, 7 April, 2010
Brown calls general election
By Irish Republican News
British prime minister Gordon Brown has today called a general election for May 6th after visiting Buckingham Palace to seek Crown permission to dissolve parliament on April 12th.
Speaking outside his Downing Street residence with his cabinet standing around behind him, Brown opened the month-long campaign for what is one of the most unpredictable elections in Britain for almost two decades.
"It will come as no surprise to all of you and it's probably the least kept secret of recent years that the queen has kindly agreed to the dissolution of parliament and a general election will take place on May 6," Mr Brown said.
Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron, addressing party workers on the banks of the river Thames opposite parliament, called it the most important election for a generation. "You don't have to put up with another five years of Gordon Brown," he said.
There have been predictions that Labour will likely overall control of the Westminster parliament, resulting in a 'hung parliament', with the Liberal Democrats or even smaller parties such as the DUP holding the balance of power.
Brown's popularity in Britain has recovered somewhat as voters there feel the recession to be ending and have become numbed to casualties in the war in Afghanistan.
An survey for the Guardian suggests that the Tories have yet to establish a firm lead and that Labour could still emerge from the general election with the most MPs.
Whichever party came first, the findings indicate either of them would be forced to rely on Liberal Democrat support. The poll puts Labour on 33 per cent, the Tories on 37 per cent, and the Lib Dems on 21 per cent.
In the North of Ireland, any shift in voting patterns will be closely analysed as a possible harbinger of change. There are a total of 18 Westminster constituencies in the Six Counties.
The entry into the election contest of extreme hardline unionist party, Jim Allister's Traditional Unionist Voice, has the potential to alter the complexion of the election in unionist constituencies, particularly in the former Paisley heartland of north Antrim.
Cameron's Conservative party has formed a troubled alliance with Reg Empey's Ulster Unionists (UCUNF) which has impacted that party's election preparations. The alliance will struggle to win a single seat.
The nationalist parties are in a tight battle to secure the constituency of South Down, where SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie will face Sinn Fein's Caitriona Ruane to win the seat being vacated by veteran SDLP stalwart Eddie McGrady.
In the closely fought constituencies of Fermanagh/South Tyrone and South Belfast, Sinn Fein and the SDLP will respectively hope to hold off an unpredictable unionist challenge, while in north Belfast, Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly will hope to push the DUP's Nigel Dodds.
The launch of all the parties manifestos and full scale campaigning is not expected to start until next week.
Copyright © Irish Republican News 2010
Hung parliament a distinct possibility after May showdown
By Belfast Telegraph
A far-reaching package of constitutional reforms that could form the basis of a deal between Labour and the Liberal Democrats if the General Election results in a hung parliament will be announced by Gordon Brown today.
In a speech this afternoon, Mr Brown is expected to outline his support for fixed-term four-year parliaments, surrendering the Prime Minister's power to choose the date of an election; a “double referendum” on the voting system for Westminster elections; a fully elected House of Lords; and an eventual move to a written constitution.
Mr Brown confirmed yesterday that the election would be held on May 6. Parliament will be dissolved next Monday and will return on May 18, almost a week later than usual, which allows time for negotiations between the parties if none wins an overall majority.
Labour still insists that the party can win outright because the public mood is so volatile and it stresses that the reforms to be included in its election manifesto next week are designed to rebuild trust after the MPs' expenses controversy — not to curry favour with the Liberal Democrats.
However, the opinion polls suggest that a hung parliament or a Tory win are more likely than a Labour victory, and Mr Brown's reform package will be seen as a way to woo Nick Clegg if the election results in a stalemate. While a formal coalition is unlikely, an understanding in which the Liberal Democrats supported a minority government in key Commons votes is possible. Early legislation on fixed-term parliaments would be a sweetener for Mr Clegg, whose party could be squeezed if a second election were held soon after the first. It could even pave the way for a four-year Lib-Lab pact.
In the heat of battle, the Liberal Democrats will dismiss Mr Brown's “deathbed conversion” to the constitutional change they have long supported. But Labour ministers believe the Brown package could become important if the third party holds the balance of power because the Tories oppose most of the reforms. Although Mr Cameron is attracted by the idea of fixed-term parliaments — already the norm in many other countries — he is not persuaded. He has said that an elected second chamber would not be a top priority.
On Lords reform, Labour may opt for an 80% elected chamber initially, rising to 100 per cent over time. Church of England bishops are expected to play a continuing role.
Today Mr Clegg will attack the record of both main parties on this agenda. The Liberal Democrat leader will say: “If Labour and the Conservatives get their way, only the faces will change. All the corruption and all the sleaze, all the big money and all the backroom dealings will remain. Only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted on political reform.”
In yesterday's opening salvos, Mr Cameron offered voters “hope, optimism, change, a fresh start” in what he called “the most important election for a generation”. Promising to seize power for those he called “the great ignored” of Britain, he said: “They want a government that backs them, and that is what the Conservative Party is going to do.” The Tory leader said: “It comes down to this. You don't have to put up with another five years of Gordon Brown.”
Addressing a Tory rally in Leeds last night, Mr Cameron said people were “cynical and apathetic and sometimes downright angry with their politicians and I don't blame them.”
The Prime Minister, surrounded by his senior ministers outside Downing Street, warned that Tory plans to take millions out of the economy this year would put the recovery at risk.
Mr Brown scrapped plans to travel to Washington to attend a nuclear disarmament summit next Monday and Tuesday, which would have allowed him a meeting with President Barack Obama. Downing Street said: “The election campaign has been called and the circumstances have changed.” Mr Brown is now expected to launch Labour's manifesto on Monday.
Labour strategists admit the Tories achieved momentum last week by promising to halt next year's one per cent rise in national insurance contributions — a decision backed by three more businessmen last night, taking the number to 41. Labour will try to “pick apart” the Tories' claim that the plan could be funded by £6bn of government efficiency savings.
Mr Clegg told party workers at Liberal Democrat headquarters: “This isn't the old politics of a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservative Party. The real choice is between the old politics of Labour and Conservatives and something different.”
Copyright © Belfast Telegraph 2010