Brown Under Fire for U-Turn on Elections

Gordon Brown has a new nickname: “bottler,” British slang for someone who’s lost their nerve at the last minute. He's facing heavy criticism for the unpopular decision not to hold a snap general election this autumn after learning that his Labor party lags 6 points behind the Torries in polls and would risk losing its majority, the Guardian reports

The Torries' edge is chalked up to their proposed tax break for property worth more than £1 million. Brown has tried to brush off criticism that postponing the election until 2009 ignores the will of the people. It has, in his words, been a rough season: “We have had terrorism, we have had floods, we have had financial crisis.” (More Gordon Brown stories.)