Cameron, Clegg Tell Parties They'll Implement Coalition Program
Prime Minister David Cameron
Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. Photographer: Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and deputy Nick Clegg told members of their respective political parties that they will press ahead with the coalition’s program for government, a warning to dissenters a day before lawmakers return to parliament.
The call for unity in a joint letter to the Sunday Telegraph comes amid what they called “exceptional pressure” on the U.K. as it seeks to implement the deepest spending cuts since World War II. Lawmakers debate plans to overhaul the voting system tomorrow.
“Of course there are differences of opinion within the government, not least between the two of us,” the leaders wrote. “Recognizing them can be a sign of strength, rather than weakness.”
Cameron and Clegg want a referendum on voting reform and measures to cut the number of parliamentary districts and fix the length of a government’s term in office. While both are backing the plebiscite, Cameron’s Conservative Party will campaign against adopting an Australian-style alternative-vote system while Clegg’s Liberal Democrats will push for change.
The Conservative-led coalition government is seeking support for the cuts amid concern they might damage the prospects for economic recovery. Elaine Costigan, a Conservative councilor in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council near Birmingham, defected to the Labour Party yesterday, rejecting the coalition’s cuts to its schools budget.
Labour Attacks
The Labour Party has pledged not to lower spending until next year and candidates vying to succeed Gordon Brown as leader have sought to appeal to party members by attacking cuts already announced by the new government, including to a schools-building program.
Party members will meet at annual conferences later this month and next for the first time since Conservatives and Liberal Democrats forged an alliance following the inconclusive May 6 election.
Clegg won the promise of a ballot on the alternative vote, under which electors rank candidates in order of preference, before joining the coalition. Some Conservative lawmakers have threatened to oppose Cameron’s plans on voting reform, the Sunday Telegraph said.
A study by the Electoral Reform Society suggests the Liberal Democrats would have won 22 more seats and the Conservatives 26 fewer in the 650-member House of Commons under AV in May’s elections.
AV works by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference in single-member electoral districts. The candidate coming last drops out, and second preferences are redistributed until one candidate secures more than 50 percent of the votes. The system ensures every lawmaker would have majority support in his or her district.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in London at gvina@bloomberg.net;
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