The details behind Britain’s new government

On Tuesday afternoon, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg announced a deal with David Cameron’s Tory Party to form Britain’s new government.

The decision ended five days of uncertainty, and makes the Eton-educated Cameron at 43, the country’s youngest prime minister in almost 200 years.

Now that the details of the deal have emerged, it reveals a truly negotiated outcome but disappointment for Clegg on his dream for proportional representation.

The announcement

The announcement came at the end of a dramatic day – at the start of which many thought a Labour-Liberal Democrat deal was likely.

Instead, Gordon Brown, leader of the defeated Labour Party, emerged from the prime minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street to say his final farewell.

After acknowledging 13 years of Labour rule, and wishing David Cameron all the best, he made the short drive to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to the Queen. He also advised her, as is his duty, to call on Cameron to form the next government.

This she did, and after the usual Palace formalities, David Cameron was officially Prime Minister of Britain.

Despite this though, it was not yet a done deal.

The Liberal Democrat and Tory party members still had to approve the Clegg and Cameron agreement.

This wasn’t expected to be a problem for the Tories, but it certainly wasn’t guaranteed for the Lib Dems.

Even though the deal had largely granted their wishes, some members were still not comfortable working with the right-wing Tory conservatives.

Nevertheless, the deal was agreed to by both parties on Tuesday night, meaning Parliament could finally approve the new coalition government.

The details

That new government has come with wins and losses for both parties.

The Lib Dems succeeding in getting a reduced tax-burden on low income earners and forced the Tories to scrap their plan to reduce inheritance tax that would have benefited the rich.

They also ensured a policy of more funding to schools for every child from a poor home that they take in.

Meanwhile, the Tories succeeded in their plan to cut £6 billion from the government’s budget deficit this year, and maintain their £150 tax break for married couples.

They also get to put a cap on immigration, with the Lib Dems’ plan for an amnesty on illegal immigrants scrapped. They will also maintain the Trident nuclear missiles programme that the Lib Dems had opposed.

In addition to this, on the thorny issue of the EU, the Tories succeeded in securing a commitment not to join the euro currency, and any proposed transfer of powers from Britain to Europe must be put to a referendum (national vote).

For the big issue of election changes, there will be a referendum on whether or not to bring in an ‘Alternative Vote’ system.

There will also be a commission to review party funding and a change to the second law-making chamber – the currently unelectable House of Lords – to make it entirely or mainly elected.

The proposed ‘Alternative Vote’ voting system is slightly controversial as it’s not actually proportional representation.

It works like this. Instead of just ticking the candidate you want to win in your district, you rank the candidates 1 to 4, with your preferred candidate first.

If any candidate gets over 50% of the 1s in the district, they win. If not, the candidate with the least number of 1s drops out and their 2s become 1s in a recount. This continues until someone gets a majority of ‘1s’.

It’s a complicated system and doesn’t produce the proportional ‘30% of votes get 30% of seats’ result that the Lib Dems were looking for.

But with Labour offering the same system, they were left with little choice.

In terms of government positions, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will be given the role of deputy prime minister – the power of which can range from nothing to a lot.

Four more Lib Dems will get top government positions in the cabinet, with the remaining 15 going to the Tories.

Given the acceptance of the deal by both parties and positive comments by MPs on both sides, the alliance appears to be a happy one.

But some commentators warn that once the euphoria of forming a government ends, the true division behind the two parties’ values might be exposed.

There certainly remain some differences and the parties are not obliged to agree on everything.

Therefore, although Britain’s first coalition government since World War Two is claiming to be strong and stable, it may prove to be a bigger battle than the current mood suggests.

By The Casual Truth

Photo – Britain’s new Prime Minister David Cameron