Translated material
Brown's Got Talent
New UK Prime Minister hands out briefcases
The British have different explanations for the rains that have flooded the country these days, causing unprecedented floods across a large area of Middle England. Some say that the Almighty regrets the resignation of Tony Blair. Others see it as a warning to new Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to get Albion into trouble.As soon as he returned from the queen who blessed him with a new position, Brown proclaimed immediate change as the main direction of his policy . Apparently, we are talking about large-scale changes in almost all areas of domestic policy. Brown promises to apply new approaches in education and health care, housing construction and many other areas.
“It gives the strange impression,” says Conservative MP Theresa May, “that Brown wants to quickly rid himself of the legacy of Tony Blair. However, let's not forget that when voters cast their votes for Labor in 2005, they had in mind the program that Blair proposed. If Brown has other intentions, he should immediately call a new election and seek a mandate from the voters for his program.”
But Brown and his supporters pose the question differently. They say that while Tony Blair's years in office were successful for the country, Britain now faces new challenges that require policy adjustments. Among the new challenges, Brown names climate change, global competition and the threat of terrorism.
The new prime minister will also need new people. The cabinet has already been formed and held its first meeting yesterday. A large group of ministers who had served Blair faithfully for many years left him. These include Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Health Minister Patricia Hewitt, and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Amos. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Home Secretary John Reid announced their resignations.
Young promising politicians are being nominated to take their place. “You'll see a lot of young stars in the new cabinet,” promised former education secretary Allan Johnson, who now takes on the portfolio of health secretary. In a keynote speech given after his election as party leader, Brown said that ministers would be chosen not on party lines, but on their talents. There are rumors that he will involve representatives of other parties in the work of the government.
The biggest surprise is the appointment of 41-year-old David Miliband as Foreign Secretary. He will become the youngest head of the Foreign Office in 30 years. His grandfather was a prisoner of the Warsaw ghetto and voluntarily joined the Red Army on the eve of the liberation of the Polish capital. Father is a well-known Marxist theorist in Britain. But Miliband himself is a liberal and a supporter of a market economy. After graduating from Oxford University, he worked as a political analyst in the Labor Party apparatus, where he quickly rose to the top roles and for many years actually headed the political science department of the Tony Blair administration. There he earned the nickname Brain. In recent years, he was Minister of Environment in the government.
The important post of Chancellor of the Exchequer went to Alistair Darling, a close friend of Brown's who had already served in many positions in Blair's cabinet. Another old friend, Jack Straw, who ran Brown's campaign, will head the Justice Department.