Brown's Britain

On the first anniversary of Gordon Brown's premiership, the Labour Party went down to a humiliating fifth-place finish in a special election near Oxford, reports the Times of London. Although the Tories had been expected to retain the seat vacated by new London mayor Boris Johnson, the ruling party came behind not only the third-party Liberal Democrats, but also the Greens and a whites-only extremist party. More »

In the midst of a garbage overload, the UK is cracking down on trash with strict new rules, sparking a backlash among Britons, the New York Times reports. Many areas now pick up trash only biweekly, and accept only regulation amounts. Some reject recycling bins tainted with garbage. In response, some Britons are yelling at trash collectors, stealing neighbors’ bins—and burning their rubbish. More »

Gordon Brown has seen his reputation collapse in his year as UK prime minister: once the colossus of the Labour Party who enjoyed buoyant poll ratings, he is now so diminished that many in his own party want him to resign. To mark the first anniversary of his elevation to prime minister, the Guardian provides an in-depth look at the event that changed everything—Brown's decision to cancel a snap election he probably would have won. More »

A British lawmaker resigned from Parliament today to protest what he views as a government assault on civil liberties, especially a recent law that extends to 42 days the length of time that terror suspects can he detained. David Davis of the Conservative Party hoped to call attention to the issue by triggering a special election, but the ruling Labour Party sees his move as a "political stunt" and won't run a candidate against him, the AP reports. More »

George W. Bush was in "one of his oddly chipper moods" during his awkward final trip to London, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd observes—but why? Perhaps, she opines half facetiously, "W. simply feels more at home in a monarchy" after years spent confessing to "Torquemada Cheney." Or maybe it's that he got to hang out with Gordon Brown, one of few world leaders "more unpopular than he is." More »

Prime Minister Gordon Brown looked a little heavy handed when President Bush tried out a "homeboy handshake" on the British leader yesterday, the Daily Mail reports. Clearly caught by surprise by Bush's American-style "street" greeting, Brown fumbled, accidentally stuck a few fingers up the president's sleeve—and ended up clasping Bush's hand in a "wet fish" shake. Yo , Gordo. More »

Britain and the European Union will slap Iran with a new round of sanctions over its refusal to curtail its nuclear program, PM Gordon Brown announced today, handing President Bush an unexpected farewell gift on the last day of his weeklong European trip. Brown froze the assets of Iran's largest bank as of today, reports the Washington Post; he also pledged about 200 more troops to join the 7,800 British soldiers already in Afghanistan. More »

Hundreds of anti-war demonstrators clashed with London police as they protested President Bush's visit yesterday, reports the BBC. Protesters chanted "George Bush, terrorist!" but were kept out of the president's earshot as he arrived at 10 Downing Street. More »

President Bush has renewed the hunt for Osama bin Laden, enlisting the aid of British special forces to make the capture before he leaves the White House next year, the Times of London reports. Bush's European farewell tour moved today to England, which has participated in renewed raids in northern Pakistan. “Bush is swinging for the fences in the hope of scoring a home run,” said an intelligence source. More »

The House of Lords is vaulting into the 21st century, hosting a YouTube channel dedicated to dispelling its upper-crust image. The appointed branch of Parliament rolled out several videos today, full of legislators explaining to clueless young people how the system works, the AP reports. "We hope that they will help to combat some of the outdated stereotypes of members of the upper house," said the Lord Speaker. More »

With the personal backing of Rupert Murdoch, the former editor of Britain's biggest-selling tabloid is set to run in a special election triggered by yesterday's surprise resignation of a top Tory. Kelvin MacKenzie, who edited Murdoch's Sun for more than a decade, is preparing to contest the seat vacated by David Davis. Davis quit Parliament in protest after it narrowly passed a law authorizing pretrial detention of 42 days for terrorist suspects. More »

Prime Minister Gordon Brown prevailed in a crunch vote last night to extend Britain's period of detention without trial for terror suspects to 6 weeks, the BBC reports. Brown avoided defeat by convincing a small Northern Ireland party to support him after 36 members of his Labour Party joined the opposition to vote against the bill. More »

The British parliament is set for a nail-bitingly close vote on a law that will allow the police to hold terror suspects without charge for 42 days—by far the longest in the free world. As Gordon Brown pushes the law and attempts to prevent his first Commons defeat, John Major writes in the London Times that the law is an indefensible part of a new "siege society." More »

The crushing defeat for the Labor Party yesterday in an election in a working class district of England could spell disaster for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, reports the Guardian . The opposition Tory candidate beat the ruling party choice in a by-election to fill a death vacancy by a whopping margin in the decaying northern England industrial town of Crewe—the kind of place considered a bedrock of Labor support. More »

The Dalai Lama arrived in Britain today for an 11-day visit, during which he will give lectures and meet with senior religious and political figures. Gordon Brown won acclaim at the height of the Olympic torch protests for agreeing to meet the Tibetan leader. But now, writes AFP, the PM is under fire for an element of protocol: the meeting will not take place at his residence of 10 Downing Street, but in a religious setting. More »

British PM Gordon Brown suffered his worst ratings yet today, falling behind Conservative Party leader David Cameron in every category in a new survey. The Labour leader is scrambling to win back public favor after three in four people said he was doing a bad job, with almost half calling his governance very bad, the Guardian reports. More »

In the last few weeks, two giants of center-left politics—Hillary Clinton in America and Gordon Brown in Britain—have seen their electoral chances reduced to near impossibility. Both have struggled as uncharismatic politicians in a media age. But for one columnist in London's Times , their trajectories have more important parallels: not least, their support for the war in Iraq, the unspoken element in both of their downfalls. More »

Labor has suffered its worst showing in 40 years in local elections across England and Wales. Just one year after Gordon Brown became prime minister, his party pulled only 24% of the projected national vote, 20 points behind the Tories and behind even the third-party Liberal Democrats. As for the night's most closely watched race—for mayor of London—both parties privately project that Tory challenger Boris Johnson has won. More »

With polls predicting big losses for his Labour party in tomorrow’s local elections, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted he’d made mistakes in the past six months, Reuters reports. Chiefly, Brown acknowledged increasing the tax burden on the lowest-paid workers and those aged 60-64, but said both problems were currently being “dealt with.” More »

With 48 hours to go before the election, a final poll gives Boris Johnson a 10-point edge in the race for mayor of London. The shambolic Tory is poised to romp to victory over incumbent Ken Livingstone Thursday, according to the pollster YouGov. The finding is completely at odds with other surveys, which have consistently judged the race too close to call, writes the Guardian . More »