[Colm]

Talk about Politics in this thread

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5353092.stm

Moderate Centre-Right party wins the Swedish general election.

[Colm]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5376760.stm

What did people think of Gordon Brown's speach?

[pookspur]

Originally Posted by Colm

Talk about Politics in this thread

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5353092.stm

Moderate Centre-Right party wins the Swedish general election.

sonofabitch.

i've been saying for months that if the swedish center-right ever got their hands on the levers of power, i'd be taking to the streets. well ... now it's on.


now, where did i put my truncheon?

[pookspur]

Originally Posted by Colm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5376760.stm

What did people think of Gordon Brown's speach?

i found interesting the manner in which he came across so moderate at this stage in the process. it's an interesting contrast with american politics.

that's not to say, of course, that we're not accustomed to politicians trying to be all things to all people - it's a staple of two-party democracies. but here in the states, it's much more common for a figure who is pursuing his party's position of leadership (the presidential nomination, if you will) to be far less centrist at that particular point. mr brown's speech doesn't appear to be an appeal to the base of his party for it's leadership so much as a more broad appeal to britain as a whole - more a part of the election campaign than of an intra-party process.

i can't claim to follow the internal dynamics of british party politics terribly closely these days (that probably shows). is this natural? or is brown's LP leadership a foregone conclusion, and he's getting a headstart on the general election?

[Colm]

Originally Posted by pookspur

or is brown's LP leadership a foregone conclusion, and he's getting a headstart on the general election?

It's not a foregone conclusion but he is the hot favourite and has been tipped for the job for many years now. There will be an election to decide the new leader and prime minister of the labour party.

Brown and Blair have had to move the Labour Party to the centre and mabey centre-right some people say to get elected. Before 1997 when Labour got elected for the first time in 18 years they were a left-wing party and have generally been the left-wing party of Britain but they aren't so anymore because nobody was going to elect there nutty left ideads between the years of 1979-1994 (when Blair became leader of the Labour Party)

other candidates for the job are

John Ried (Home secretary)
Alan Johnson (Education secretary)
and some say John Hutton

[Colm]

Tony blair just had his last Labour party conference today.

Going on about how Labour have supposedly improved the country etc..

[Colm]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/5380366.stm

Japan elect a new prime minister, a conservative.

[pookspur]

is labour (in its traditional sense) really that dead and buried?

[Colm]

Originally Posted by pookspur

is labour (in its traditional sense) really that dead and buried?

Well kinda, since Brown (the favourite to takeover as prime minister) is new labour along with Blair.

[pookspur]

are there any serious threats or likelihoods of a more class-conscious labor faction breaking off into its own party?