Brown's Britain

Dalai Lama Won't Be Welcomed at 10 Downing

AFP  |  May 20, 08 7:50 AM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Outlook Dark for Britain's Brown

Guardian (UK)  |  May 11, 08 1:53 PM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Brown, Clinton Suffer Same Fate

Times (UK)  |  May 8, 08 10:50 AM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Brown, Labor Savaged in UK Elections

Times (UK)  |  May 2, 08 5:43 AM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Down in Polls, Brown Admits 'Mistakes'

Reuters  |  Apr 30, 08 3:25 PM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Labour Will Lose London, Final Poll Says

Guardian (UK)  |  Apr 29, 08 9:21 AM CDT

(Newser) - 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 »

Bank of England Launches Mortgage Swap Plan

BBC  |  Apr 21, 08 4:00 AM CDT

(Newser) - Commercial banks will be allowed to temporarily swap some $100 billion in troublesome mortgages for securities backed by Britain's central bank under a plan announced today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move by the Bank of England, aimed at boosting  liquidity and confidence in the banking system, follows similar action by the US Federal Reserve. More »

Forget Bush; Brown Talks to Candidates

Reuters  |  Apr 17, 08 1:46 PM CDT

(Newser) - Gordon Brown pointedly met with all three US presidential candidates before meeting with President Bush today. Britain’s unpopular prime minister seems eager to look to the future, Reuters reports, lest he be labeled “Bush’s poodle” as predecessor Tony Blair was. Brown said he wouldn’t endorse any of the candidates, but hopes the eventual winner will improve relations with Europe. More »

Mugabe Rival Accused of Treason

Reuters  |  Apr 17, 08 7:49 AM CDT

(Newser) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is convinced he won last month's presidential election, has now been accused of treason by President Robert Mugabe's government. The accusation presents a dangerous new threat in the wake of the controversial elections, whose results have not yet been released. "There is no doubting the consequences for acting in a treasonous manner," warned Zimbabwe Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. More »

Mugabe Didn't Win: Brown

Guardian (UK)  |  Apr 16, 08 1:35 PM CDT

(Newser) - Gordon Brown said today Robert Mugabe lost Zimbabwe’s March 29 election, implying that Mugabe means to change the results while delaying their release, the Guardian reports. "No one thinks, having seen the result at the polling stations, that President Mugabe has won. … A stolen election would not be an election at all," Britain's prime minister told the UN Security Council. More »

On Pope's Heels, Brown Arrives in America

Wall Street Journal  |  Apr 16, 08 7:42 AM CDT

(Newser) - The pope might be commanding the headlines, but another world leader is in America this week—Gordon Brown arrived in New York yesterday for a three-day visit. In an op-ed for today's Wall Street Journal , the British PM announces a raft of initiatives designed to fortify the "special relationship," from business link-ups to a joint cancer research program. More »

British PM Won't Attend Olympic Opening

BBC  |  Apr 9, 08 3:36 PM CDT

(Newser) - British PM Gordon Brown will not attend the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony, the BBC reports, though his office made clear it was not a boycott. Brown said he never intended to go to the opening and emphasized that that he will be present at the closing ceremony for the torch handoff—London will host the 2012 Games. More »

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

Times (UK)  |  Apr 9, 08 10:58 AM CDT

(Newser) - UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious pressure to cut interest rates at its meeting tomorrow, the Times of London reports. More »

UK to Get Tough on Pot

Independent (UK)  |  Apr 4, 08 9:14 AM CDT

(Newser) - The British government is set to tighten the law on marijuana, reclassifying it as a more dangerous drug and imposing a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for possession. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is determined to designate pot as a class B drug, only three years after Tony Blair downgraded it to class C.  More »

UK Politician Ridiculed for Flak Jacket

Daily Mail (UK)  |  Apr 1, 08 9:40 AM CDT

(Newser) - Gordon Brown's deputy has sparked a media frenzy after she was photographed wearing a stab-proof vest around her own neighborhood in southeast London. Harriet Harman, the Labour Party's No. 2, has insisted the photograph of her touring the tough neighborhood in a kevlar-reinforced jacket with three police officers was taken out of context, reports the Daily Mail . But the incident is sparking new debates over crime in the capital. More »

Carla Outshines Sarko in UK

Times (UK)  |  Mar 27, 08 12:20 PM CDT

(Newser) - Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy tackled Afghanistan, immigration, climate change, and global markets as the French president’s visit to Britain continued—but Carla Bruni still hogged the headlines. Sarkozy ripped a French reporter who suggested his wife had overshadowed his trip, the Times of London reports—saying, “this is a woman who has beliefs, sensitivity, and a humanity which has contributed to her elegance.” More »

Sarkomania Hits Britain