Brown moves to show up waning Labour fortunes amid confusion in UK electorate

Main UK Political leaders grappling with the hung Parliament impasse following the recent elections.

The caretaker UK Premier Gordon Brown has thrown British politics in a further spin by offering to resign as Labour Party leader in a calculated move to show up the waning fortunes of the party beaten into second place by the Conservatives.

The UK elections on 6 May returned a hung Parliament that has caught the unsuspecting UK electorate unawares and generated intense political lobbying among the three main political parties Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats.

If Zimbabweans were miffed by the events following the harmonised elections in March 2008 they were saved from showing their ire by repressive laws that did not and still do not allow them to openly express their frustrations without suffering recriminations from an intolerant government.

Not so in the UK where freedom of expression is guaranteed and encouraged.

The electorate is annoyed and confused as to what has gone wrong with their politics.

Most were annoyed that the ruling Labour Party had failed to deliver some of its promises over the past 13 years it has been in power and many were alienated from the party by the manner the party handled its leadership transfer from charismatic Tony Blair to the more serious and robust Gordon Brown who comes across as a no nonsense leader.

They voted against the ruling party in their multitudes but not in enough numbers to ensure any other party gained an absolute parliamentary majority crucial to allow a party to nominate the all important Prime Minister who has the powers to form and lead the post election government.

Not surprisingly the UK electorate is bemused by the political paralysis that has followed their election results.

Before the elections there was national talk that due to unsavoury events surrounding MPs’ expenses claims, a coalition government could be more effective and accountable to the British than is the case with a monolithic majority party.

There appeared to be no appreciation whatsoever of the difficulties political formations with diametrically opposed ideologies and sectarian interests would be faced with in trying to form such a coalition government.

After the election results were made public the highly influential British media gave the nation false hope that a solution to the electoral impasse was likely early the following week following the Liberal Democrats/Conservative overtures at joining hands in the coalition government.

The appearance of upbeat spin doctors for both parties on TV and in print media as well as on radio, twitter and face book exuding confidence at the pace and constructive manner the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats talks were proceeding heightened expectations of a quick resolution among the electorate.

But as time passed and the fruits of the fruitful discussions between the two parties were not served to the nation anxieties, exasperation and outright anger started to creep in and replace the hope.

Liberal Democrats who increased their national popularity support by 1% but in real terms reduced their parliamentary seats by 6 have emerged as the holders of the casting vote that will determine which of the two parties Conservatives or Labour would acquire the undisputed right to form the post election government.

Conservatives are not amused that they have to bend backwards on their policies and values to a party they have little if not any ideological synergy.

But even more compelling are fears among the Conservative party leadership that if they do not swallow their pride and court the support of the Liberal democrats, chances are their political nemesis Labour may just pounce and forge an alliance with the liberal Democrats that will render the electoral gains of the Conservatives count for nothing.

Liberal democrats are not amused that their party is being courted by the Conservatives to prop up ideologies that are not in sync with their values. They are equally disturbed that denying listening to the Conservatives who led the electoral race by a distance is immoral.

Even more compelling is the fear about the long term effects to the Liberal Democrats’ political future if they decide so soon after an election in which their national support had taken a significant rise back to the fold of the loathed Conservatives instead of Labour whose ideologies closely approximate those of the liberal democrats.

The decision is not easy for the Liberal Democrats because their leaders are at best not the best of friends and at the worst of incompatible leadership styles that are beyond reconciliation.

Not surprisingly the Liberal Democrats are receiving brickbats from their own grassroots membership and sympathisers, Conservatives party and labour grassroots supporters all hoping to influence the party to be guided by either principle or morality in its decisions to choose who to join between Labour and the Conservatives.

The Conservatives have been quick to point out the immoral guilt the Liberal Democrats will live with if they decide to join with Labour in denying them their hard fought electoral success.

The Conservatives have adopted “the formation of a strong and stable coalition government” as its main lure for the Liberal Democrats to consider joining them ahead of joining Labour.

The thinking is instructed from the belief that mathematically a Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will raise a 363 Parliamentary majority giving the alliance a comfortable 37 seat leeway in passing reform legislation.

Should the Liberal Democrats however choose to form the coalition with Labour they will not only lose their political moral creditworthiness but they will carry the risk of propping an electorally discredited party to assume power through the back door and still not be assured of an absolute Parliamentary majority through the union.

This is premised on the mathematical permutation that a Labour and Liberal Democrats coalition will only raise 315 Parliamentary seats 11 short of the 326 threshold necessary to push through reform legislation and they will need to scrounge for support elsewhere which will not be guaranteed.

First the British grassroots must never be fooled that any of their three main political formations have national interest as their central political goal because the very reasons they are separate entities are sectarian more than homogeneous national interests.

Secondly the argument that is commonly being advanced that a Labour/Liberal Democrats coalition will be immoral, weak and ineffective has no validity as the same can be said of the Conservative/Liberal Democrats because within the increased numbers there will also be increased ideological differences.

Not only that, the outrageous, mischievous and unfounded argument that the Labour/Liberal Democrats coalition will retain a second unelected Prime Minister being peddled by the influential British press are misleading the unsuspecting British public.

The British electorate has no direct role in electing the country’s Premier who is a product of Party nomination and appointment by the Queen. For that reason alone the argument must fail.

There is nothing in the British Constitution that precludes the Labour/Conservatives, Labour/Liberal Democrats, Conservatives/ Liberal Democrats in the circumstances such as those obtaining after the recent elections.

If government strength and national stability were the central consideration then why have the Conservatives not been forthcoming in making overtures to Labour to form a coalition?

Surely such a coalition would have more numerical seats than any other that can be cobbled under the current circumstances yet no one seems interested in such a strong union.

There are fundamental political drivers that are pushing both Labour and the Conservatives to seek alliances with the Liberal Democrats and not each other and one such force is ideological differences and the desire for power retention.

These compelling forces are more sectarian than national and the sooner the British electorate wakes up to that reality the more they will understand that they will not further their national interests by abrogating their responsibility to choose their leaders to party political leaders.

To show how such naivety on the part of the electorate is dangerous and must be dissuaded it only took the announcement by Prime Minister that the Liberal Democrats had chosen to explore coalition formation with the Conservatives for the nation to realise how immoral it was that their votes against Conservatism could actually end up counting in favour of that which they voted against.

In like manner when the Premier announced the desire by the Liberal Democrats to open formal coalition talks with Labour it dawned on many other nationals how immoral it would be for a party many believe had lost the election to be retained in power through the decision of another party that came a distant third in the election sidelining the party that secured not just the highest number of seats but the highest popularity vote y of all the contestants.

But because politics is not just premised on morality the electorate must realise that according to their voting preferences all the issues that they are now laming on Party leadership like attempting to cling to power by Labour, emulation of Zimbabwe’s Mugabe politics by Labour, abandonment of the crucial economic recovery initiatives in preference of resolving political power agendas by the elected politicians, that they are now voicing concern over were scripted by none other than the electorate.

All the politicians are doing is having fun with the power games presented to them by the electorate and any outcome is possible from their negotiations.

No political formation will be able to decisively deal with the economic worries of
the nation unless it secures guarantees that its solutions will get legislative support.

That is why it is imperative for the leadership to secure its power base first before attempting to resolve the economic and social needs of the nation.

Any party leader who fails to realise that is like an army general who commands his forces into battle before opening the armoury and adequately equipping his forces.
The obvious loss of the battle by his powerless and ill equipped army will be imminent.

That is why the intricate coalition negotiations are protracted. All party leaders want to guarantee their political futures first and then guarantee the future of the nation thereafter.

By announcing his intention to quit labour leadership at its next Congress Gordon Brown has just done his party and political future a great service and it’s telling from the reaction of the Conservatives who hitherto were not amenable to consider electoral reforms to adjust their position accordingly.

The change of terminology from coalition to mean a union between two parties to form a government and Rainbow coalition to define an alliance of several parties in forming a government does not in any way make a difference.

A coalition is a temporary union between two or more groups especially political parties and that is what voters will get if they elect hung Parliaments.

The political formations with the best deal making expertise will emerge as the winners even in cases where they trailed in electoral popularity and morality takes second place to deal making prowess under the circumstances where political formations that are formed with the sole objective of exerting influence on power are asked to negotiate their way into power.

British voters unused to this reality must chill and wait for the outcome of the political process they have abrogated to their political leadership as for now the matter is out of their control having failed to make the best out of the elections opportunity they were presented on 6 May 2010.

President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday 20 January 2008,

USA President Barack Obama willing to engage and extend his hand despots the world over like Mugabe of Zimbabwe if the despots agree to unclench their fists.

OBAMA: My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been.

So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics.

Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions as; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.

Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing put, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.

We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost.

We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short.

For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward.

Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.

Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.

With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet.

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect.

For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the fire-fighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.

They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river.

The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.

Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.