Friday, May 08, 2015

Cameron’s Victory Sets Stage for Fights Over Europe, Scotland and Austerity

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron, having achieved a smashing and unexpected outright victory in Britain’s general election, heads into his second term facing severe — even existential — challenges to his nation’s identity and place in the world: how to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union and Scotland in the United Kingdom.

In vanquishing the opposition Labour Party and winning an absolute majority in Parliament, Mr. Cameron gained the right to govern without a coalition partner, allowing him to claim a mandate on Friday to pursue his own agenda. But his majority is so narrow that it will force him to tread carefully with his own fractious legislators to pass legislation and address issues that could fundamentally redefine 21st-century Britain.


Read the rest here.

6 comments:

lannes said...

What evidence is there that Britain NEEDS redefining?

Patrick Sheridan said...

Iannes, well one "Conservative" politician Michael Portillo once said that he was not of the opinion that the Union was sacrosanct. Many in the now-majority government probably think so too, and with the sweeping victory of the SNP in Scotland, who knows what will happen in the next five years? It will all be for the worse, though. Of that we can be absolutely certain.

rabidgandhi said...

The Tories get the same 36% as in their 2010 campaign. With turnout @ 60% = 22% of voters voted Conservative: enough to be classified by the NYT as a 'smashing victory'.

Rather the real story here is not a Tory victory but the collapse of Labour, which with Blair and Milibland have moved so far to the right as to leave their ex-constituency healthily distributed between the SNP, UKIP and a smattering of Greens. Labour's worst showing since 1918.

So essentially we have an un-unified England that goes Tory by default, and a unified Scotland that rejects everything the Tories/Labour/(LibDems?) stand for. That is de-facto redefinition of Britain; de-jure perhaps to follow.

Clear Waters said...

Britain is a country which promotes atheism, abortion and sodomy as virtues. The only 're-definition' that will benefit this particular nation is a return to absolute monarchy, as was endorsed by both Orthodoxy and Catholicism for well over a thousand years.

Political parties provide nothing of value to the Christian. They will ask for his vote, but insist that his principles remain 'private' with no place in the secular public sphere. Thankfully in countries like Georgia, this idea is being challenged and broken down.

rabidgandhi said...

Huh?

Georgia is an absolute monarchy without political parties? In which alternate universe?

Next.

Clear Waters said...

My point about Georgia was addressing the paragraph that it was contained in as is fairly common when conversing in English: that in Georgia, secularism as a concept is being challenged, both by the church itself and its supporters. Especially with regards to education.

There was a report on it recently if you are interested.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32595514