After much speculation, Barack Obama’s team has announced he will travel to Europe this summer — to 
Paris, Berlin, and London (the dates have not yet been announced for security reasons, although the London stop … Continue Reading…
WASHINGTON — Noting the speed with which political fortunes can change, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once remarked: “A week is a long time in politics”. So imagine how Gordon Brown must be feeling after enduring three weeks of political to-and-fro, that have seen him under considerable pressure from … Continue Reading…
WASHINGTON — If you’ve not been brought up in the tribal politics of the UK, it might not have seemed so shocking when Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed Conservative former PM Lady Thatcher to Downing Street earlier this month. But Thatcher remains the ideological nemesis of Brown’s Labour Party: many … Continue Reading…
The difference in style was obvious: Gone were the chinos and unbuttoned shirt of Tony Blair’s first meeting with President Bush at Camp David, in their place a suit and tie that spoke more of business-like cooperation than personal affinity. In their press conference, Gordon Brown addressed George Bush repeatedly as … Continue Reading…
Now we know the shape of Gordon Brown’s first Cabinet. Several key changes catch the eye, among them some influential allies of Brown - while ten of the 23 members of the final Blair Cabinet have either resigned, or been demoted/sacked.
As expected, Brown’s replacement as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance … Continue Reading…
Tony Blair formally resigned as UK Prime Minister earlier today, before the Queen invited Gordon Brown to begin forming a new government. Prime Minister Brown entered 10 Downing Street shortly afterwards (more on that to come…).
Blair’s last act as Prime Minister was to face his final “Prime Minister’s Questions” … Continue Reading…
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The resurgent Conservative Party under David Cameron sensed that Tony Blair’s departure from office was a huge opportunity. With Gordon Brown taking over as Prime Minister when Blair resigns on 27 June, they argued, the Labour government would be pulled further to the … Continue Reading…
What began only a few days ago as a contest to replace Tony Blair as leader of the British Labour Party and, thereby Prime Minister when Blair stands down on 27 June, has become a coronation. Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown has succeeded in garnering nominations from … Continue Reading…
At noon today at a meeting at the Trimdon Labour Club in his constituency, Tony Blair told a group of his friends and political supporters (link requires Real Player) that he has tendered his resignation as leader of the Labour Party and will be stepping down as Prime Minister on 27 June after ten years and eight weeks in the job. The much-trailed announcement is all-but-certain to result in a smooth handover of power to Chancellor Gordon Brown who will lead the Labour Party into the next General Election slated for 2009. Continue Reading…
British campaigners against European Union plans to outlaw imperial measures like pounds and ounces have claimed victory, according to news reports today. The self-styled ‘metric martyrs’ say they have say they have won the battle to keep Britain imperial, after confirmation from the European Commission’s industry commissioner, Gunther Verheugen, that dual marking of goods in imperial and metric would “continue indefinitely”. Previously the Commission had set a 2009 deadline for the phasing out of imperial measures still widely used in British greengrocers, butchers and supermarkets. Continue Reading…