UK stalemate: Labour, Lib Dem talks collapse
Source: Agencies |
May 12, 2010, Wednesday
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SENIOR Labour Party officials said talks with the third-placed Liberal Democrats on forming Britain's next government unraveled yesterday.
This raises the prospect that Conservative leader David Cameron could soon become the country's new leader.
Gordon Brown's office declined to confirm that talks between the second-placed Labour and the Liberal Democrats had failed, saying only that the prime minister had no plans at this stage to tender his government's resignation to the queen.
Other Labour lawmakers downplayed the prospects of clinging to power, saying the party clearly lacked the mandate to govern after finishing a distant second to the Conservatives in last week's election.
"I think the sense that people will bargain on any basis to stay in power is unacceptable," said Charles Falconer, who served as justice minister under Brown's predecessor Tony Blair, adding it was time for Labour to "call it quits now."
Five days after a May 6 vote that produced no outright winner, the Liberal Democrats were being wooed by both Labour and the Conservatives, hoping to extract maximum concessions in return for propping up a new administration.
But senior Labour legislators said they feared such a pact - dubbed a "coalition of the defeated" by Conservatives - would lack legitimacy and anger the public.
"We have got to respect the result of the general election and you cannot get away from the fact that Labour didn't win," Labour's Health Secretary Andy Burnham said.
Former Labour Party Chairman Ian McCartney said Labour should forget a deal to stay in power, and focus on regrouping in opposition without Brown at its helm.
Cameron's party has been negotiating with the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg, and has said it is prepared to agree to either a formal coalition or a looser pact in which the Liberal Democrats support the Conservatives' legislative agenda.
The Liberal Democrats have demanded that Britain change its voting system toward proportional representation, which could greatly increase their future seats in Parliament. In the latest election, Liberal Democrats won almost a quarter of the overall vote but only 9 percent of House of Commons seats.
Conservatives for the most part are adamantly against changing the voting system, which favors Britain's two larger parties.
The Conservatives won 306 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons last week, just short of the 326 needed for a majority.
This raises the prospect that Conservative leader David Cameron could soon become the country's new leader.
Gordon Brown's office declined to confirm that talks between the second-placed Labour and the Liberal Democrats had failed, saying only that the prime minister had no plans at this stage to tender his government's resignation to the queen.
Other Labour lawmakers downplayed the prospects of clinging to power, saying the party clearly lacked the mandate to govern after finishing a distant second to the Conservatives in last week's election.
"I think the sense that people will bargain on any basis to stay in power is unacceptable," said Charles Falconer, who served as justice minister under Brown's predecessor Tony Blair, adding it was time for Labour to "call it quits now."
Five days after a May 6 vote that produced no outright winner, the Liberal Democrats were being wooed by both Labour and the Conservatives, hoping to extract maximum concessions in return for propping up a new administration.
But senior Labour legislators said they feared such a pact - dubbed a "coalition of the defeated" by Conservatives - would lack legitimacy and anger the public.
"We have got to respect the result of the general election and you cannot get away from the fact that Labour didn't win," Labour's Health Secretary Andy Burnham said.
Former Labour Party Chairman Ian McCartney said Labour should forget a deal to stay in power, and focus on regrouping in opposition without Brown at its helm.
Cameron's party has been negotiating with the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg, and has said it is prepared to agree to either a formal coalition or a looser pact in which the Liberal Democrats support the Conservatives' legislative agenda.
The Liberal Democrats have demanded that Britain change its voting system toward proportional representation, which could greatly increase their future seats in Parliament. In the latest election, Liberal Democrats won almost a quarter of the overall vote but only 9 percent of House of Commons seats.
Conservatives for the most part are adamantly against changing the voting system, which favors Britain's two larger parties.
The Conservatives won 306 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons last week, just short of the 326 needed for a majority.
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