Britain welcomes new government's odd couple
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, left, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg arrive for their first joint press conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday. (Reuters) 
By DAVID STRINGER & PAISLEY DODDS | AP
Published: May 12, 2010 22:17 Updated: May 13, 2010 00:52
LONDON: Britain ushered in an extraordinary new political era Wednesday as a pair of rivals-turned-partners pledged to set aside their differences and tackle the country's disastrous budget deficit - forming the first coalition government since World War II.
Newly minted Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg stood together in Downing Street's sun-dappled garden to present a new face of British politics, pledging sweeping reforms to Parliament, civil liberties laws and on ties to Europe.
Both promised to make the partnership stick but the coalition could also easily fall apart - many voters have expressed anger that they cast ballots for one party and got two.
Rifts could form once the two parties start digging into policy areas where divides are glaringly obvious. The Conservatives want to curtail the inheritance tax while the Liberal Democrats want a complete overhaul of the electoral system. While the Conservatives have said they will back a referendum on electoral reform they have vowed to campaign against it. The change could steal Conservative seats in years to come.
In a moment of telling comedy, Cameron acknowledged he had once told an interviewer the best joke he had ever heard was "Nick Clegg" - the name of the deputy premier now sharing the stage.
"Did you really say that?" Clegg said, pretending to walk away from the podium before Cameron comically implored him to come back With handshakes, smiles and a sprinkling of jokes - Clegg and Cameron showcased their pact, which ousted ex-leader Gordon Brown and his Labour Party after 13 years in office.
They also vowed that the partnership would stick so they could deliver the types of changes voters had demanded.
The one-time foes banded together after Britain's election last week denied all parties a majority - leaving the country with its first hung Parliament since 1974.
Voters struggling to make ends meet during a dismal recession gave no single group a mandate, and many people were left enraged at politicians of all stripes after a damaging expense scandal last year in which lawmakers were caught making claims for everything from pornography to chandeliers.
If the coalition falls apart, it will likely trigger another election.
Although the coalition government says it will put forth legislation to set elections every five years - prime ministers have been able to decide the dates of elections in the past - an election could be triggered if a motion is brought before the House of Commons. If the coalition were to lose a vote of confidence, another election would have to be called.
"Until today, we have been rivals: now we are colleagues," said Clegg - the surprise upstart of Britain's election campaign, who won a newly enhanced profile but saw his party lose seats in the vote.
Side by side, amid bright London sunshine, Clegg turned to his new partner and spelled out their joint message. "This is what the new politics looks like," he said. Soon after, former Foreign Minister David Miliband announced his bid for the leadership of Britain's opposition Labour Party.
Clegg will be in charge when Cameron is out of the country or is away - Cameron is expecting his fourth child soon. He will also be charged with political reforms, including looking at fixed-term parliamentary terms. When Cameron is away, Clegg will stand in for the weekly and often raucous Prime Minister's Question time.
"It is obviously going to be a different beast" Cameron said.
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are divided on many issues, including ties to Europe and election reform, but each side has made some concessions to make the coalition work. The Tories agreed to put an alternative election system that could benefit the Liberal Democrats to a public vote, while their partners agreed that it would be several years before Britain even considered closer ties to the European Union.
Cameron has appointed the joint Cabinet - including four other members of Clegg's Liberal Democrat party.
They pledged new fixed term, five year Parliaments - replacing a system whereby the prime minister decided on the date; pledged to keep Britain out of the euro currency until 2015 at least; agreed immediate 6 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) cuts to government waste and vowed House of Lords members would be elected, rather than appointed.
"It will be an administration united behind three key principles: freedom, fairness and responsibility," Cameron told reporters in a first joint news conference.
He said the government will immediately begin tackling Britain's record 153 billion-pound ($236 billion) deficit - and convene a first meeting Wednesday of a newly created national security council, focussed on the Afghanistan war.
Both candidates have backed the current mission but worry about rising tolls.
Clegg - who will lead work on reforming Britain's voting system and a recall process for miscreant lawmakers - said the coalition program is extensive.
"Our society still scarred by unfairness and inequality, or politics not yet recovered from the hammer blows of recent months and years," he said. "At a time of such enormous difficulties, our country needed a strong and stable government." Both vowed their pact will hold until Britain's next national election, and named May 2015 as the date for that vote.
Bank of England governor Mervyn King gave a strong endorsement to plans for attacking the deficit, calling it the single most important problem facing the United Kingdom." Their plan "is a very strong and powerful agreement to reduce that deficit and to take more action," King said.
One of the first calls of congratulation to the new prime minister came from President Barack Obama, an acknowledgment of Britain's most important bilateral relationship. Obama invited Cameron to visit Washington this summer.
Both Cameron and Clegg have acknowledged that Labour's government under ex-leader Tony Blair was too closely tied to Washington's interests. Both men back the Afghanistan mission, but Cameron hopes to withdraw British troops within five years. Clegg has said he's uneasy at a rising death toll. Leaner coffers may also mean less money to enter foreign-led military operations.
The new foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that the new government wanted a "solid but not slavish relationship" with the United States and described the so-called special relationship between the two countries as being of "huge importance." "No doubt we will not agree on everything," Hague said of the United States. "But they remain, in intelligence matters, in nuclear matters, in international diplomacy, in what we are doing in Afghanistan, the indispensable partner of this country." Hague is expected to speak by telephone later to US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and to travel to the United States on Friday. He'll later visit Afghanistan.
Relations with European neighbors could also become problematic. Cameron's party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.
Their coalition agreement includes a tough stance over Europe, pledging to oppose the transfer of any additional sovereign power to Brussels.
Cameron extended his first invitation for formal talks to Sarkozy, who will visit London on June 18. The date is highly symbolic for France as it is the day that Charles de Gaulle launched his appeal from London via the BBC for the French to resist the Germans during World War II.
The new British leader also spoke Wednesday with two key allies, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has vowed to build a "new special relationship" with India, believing the country can become a major political and trade partner.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years - the last was Lord Liverpool at 42.
Cameron named Conservative lawmaker George Osborne as Treasury chief.
Vince Cable, the highly popular Liberal Democrat deputy leader, becomes business secretary, an appointment that may spark nervousness in the financial sector. An ex-economist for Royal Dutch Shell, Cable is a fierce critic of banking practices and has demanded action to spur lending.
Lawmaker Liam Fox will serve as defense secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary and Theresa May as Home Office secretary.
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, left, and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg arrive for their first joint press conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday. (Reuters)
By DAVID STRINGER & PAISLEY DODDS | AP
Published: May 12, 2010 22:17 Updated: May 13, 2010 00:52
LONDON: Britain ushered in an extraordinary new political era Wednesday as a pair of rivals-turned-partners pledged to set aside their differences and tackle the country's disastrous budget deficit - forming the first coalition government since World War II.
Newly minted Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg stood together in Downing Street's sun-dappled garden to present a new face of British politics, pledging sweeping reforms to Parliament, civil liberties laws and on ties to Europe.
Both promised to make the partnership stick but the coalition could also easily fall apart - many voters have expressed anger that they cast ballots for one party and got two.
Rifts could form once the two parties start digging into policy areas where divides are glaringly obvious. The Conservatives want to curtail the inheritance tax while the Liberal Democrats want a complete overhaul of the electoral system. While the Conservatives have said they will back a referendum on electoral reform they have vowed to campaign against it. The change could steal Conservative seats in years to come.
In a moment of telling comedy, Cameron acknowledged he had once told an interviewer the best joke he had ever heard was "Nick Clegg" - the name of the deputy premier now sharing the stage.
"Did you really say that?" Clegg said, pretending to walk away from the podium before Cameron comically implored him to come back With handshakes, smiles and a sprinkling of jokes - Clegg and Cameron showcased their pact, which ousted ex-leader Gordon Brown and his Labour Party after 13 years in office.
They also vowed that the partnership would stick so they could deliver the types of changes voters had demanded.
The one-time foes banded together after Britain's election last week denied all parties a majority - leaving the country with its first hung Parliament since 1974.
Voters struggling to make ends meet during a dismal recession gave no single group a mandate, and many people were left enraged at politicians of all stripes after a damaging expense scandal last year in which lawmakers were caught making claims for everything from pornography to chandeliers.
If the coalition falls apart, it will likely trigger another election.
Although the coalition government says it will put forth legislation to set elections every five years - prime ministers have been able to decide the dates of elections in the past - an election could be triggered if a motion is brought before the House of Commons. If the coalition were to lose a vote of confidence, another election would have to be called.
"Until today, we have been rivals: now we are colleagues," said Clegg - the surprise upstart of Britain's election campaign, who won a newly enhanced profile but saw his party lose seats in the vote.
Side by side, amid bright London sunshine, Clegg turned to his new partner and spelled out their joint message. "This is what the new politics looks like," he said. Soon after, former Foreign Minister David Miliband announced his bid for the leadership of Britain's opposition Labour Party.
Clegg will be in charge when Cameron is out of the country or is away - Cameron is expecting his fourth child soon. He will also be charged with political reforms, including looking at fixed-term parliamentary terms. When Cameron is away, Clegg will stand in for the weekly and often raucous Prime Minister's Question time.
"It is obviously going to be a different beast" Cameron said.
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are divided on many issues, including ties to Europe and election reform, but each side has made some concessions to make the coalition work. The Tories agreed to put an alternative election system that could benefit the Liberal Democrats to a public vote, while their partners agreed that it would be several years before Britain even considered closer ties to the European Union.
Cameron has appointed the joint Cabinet - including four other members of Clegg's Liberal Democrat party.
They pledged new fixed term, five year Parliaments - replacing a system whereby the prime minister decided on the date; pledged to keep Britain out of the euro currency until 2015 at least; agreed immediate 6 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) cuts to government waste and vowed House of Lords members would be elected, rather than appointed.
"It will be an administration united behind three key principles: freedom, fairness and responsibility," Cameron told reporters in a first joint news conference.
He said the government will immediately begin tackling Britain's record 153 billion-pound ($236 billion) deficit - and convene a first meeting Wednesday of a newly created national security council, focussed on the Afghanistan war.
Both candidates have backed the current mission but worry about rising tolls.
Clegg - who will lead work on reforming Britain's voting system and a recall process for miscreant lawmakers - said the coalition program is extensive.
"Our society still scarred by unfairness and inequality, or politics not yet recovered from the hammer blows of recent months and years," he said. "At a time of such enormous difficulties, our country needed a strong and stable government." Both vowed their pact will hold until Britain's next national election, and named May 2015 as the date for that vote.
Bank of England governor Mervyn King gave a strong endorsement to plans for attacking the deficit, calling it the single most important problem facing the United Kingdom." Their plan "is a very strong and powerful agreement to reduce that deficit and to take more action," King said.
One of the first calls of congratulation to the new prime minister came from President Barack Obama, an acknowledgment of Britain's most important bilateral relationship. Obama invited Cameron to visit Washington this summer.
Both Cameron and Clegg have acknowledged that Labour's government under ex-leader Tony Blair was too closely tied to Washington's interests. Both men back the Afghanistan mission, but Cameron hopes to withdraw British troops within five years. Clegg has said he's uneasy at a rising death toll. Leaner coffers may also mean less money to enter foreign-led military operations.
The new foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that the new government wanted a "solid but not slavish relationship" with the United States and described the so-called special relationship between the two countries as being of "huge importance." "No doubt we will not agree on everything," Hague said of the United States. "But they remain, in intelligence matters, in nuclear matters, in international diplomacy, in what we are doing in Afghanistan, the indispensable partner of this country." Hague is expected to speak by telephone later to US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and to travel to the United States on Friday. He'll later visit Afghanistan.
Relations with European neighbors could also become problematic. Cameron's party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.
Their coalition agreement includes a tough stance over Europe, pledging to oppose the transfer of any additional sovereign power to Brussels.
Cameron extended his first invitation for formal talks to Sarkozy, who will visit London on June 18. The date is highly symbolic for France as it is the day that Charles de Gaulle launched his appeal from London via the BBC for the French to resist the Germans during World War II.
The new British leader also spoke Wednesday with two key allies, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has vowed to build a "new special relationship" with India, believing the country can become a major political and trade partner.
The 43-year-old Cameron became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years - the last was Lord Liverpool at 42.
Cameron named Conservative lawmaker George Osborne as Treasury chief.
Vince Cable, the highly popular Liberal Democrat deputy leader, becomes business secretary, an appointment that may spark nervousness in the financial sector. An ex-economist for Royal Dutch Shell, Cable is a fierce critic of banking practices and has demanded action to spur lending.
Lawmaker Liam Fox will serve as defense secretary, Kenneth Clarke as justice secretary and Theresa May as Home Office secretary.
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