Britain's Gordon Brown yesterday vowed to soldier on as prime minister, admitting that he faced an unprecedented period of turbulence as he awaited another electoral bloodbath.
A day after reshuffling his Cabinet in a desperate bid to reassert his authority, Brown again insisted that he had no intention of stepping down as he headed to the battlefields of Normandy in a brief respite from the fight for his political life.
“I think it's important to recognize that in these unprecedented times, we are bound to have ups and downs in politics,” Brown told reporters as he promised to “clean up politics” in the wake of a blistering expenses scandal.
But despite his defiance, British newspapers said Brown's government had been fatally wounded and called for a general election, while some said it was time for him to step down after a heavy defeat in local English elections.
Results from European polls are due today, which are expected to yield equally disastrous results.
Ten ministers — some embroiled in a row over personal expenses — have resigned in the past week. Political analysts believe Labour has little chance of winning the next general election that must be held by next June.
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock insisted Brown should remain in power.
“I'm absolutely certain that Gordon is the best man to take us through the recession, which is by far the most dominant issue facing the country and on people's minds,” he told Sky News TV.
On Friday, Brown handed Kinnock's wife Glenys the position of European minister after incumbent Caroline Flint stormed out, saying Brown had “strained every sinew” of her loyalty.
James Purnell quit as work and pensions secretary, saying that under Brown, Labour had no chance of winning the next general election.
Defence secretary John Hutton, transport secretary Geoff Hoon and Welsh secretary Paul Murphy also stepped down on Friday.
Business Secretary Peter Mandelson was instrumental in stopping further ministers from following Purnell, with some persuasive late-night telephone calls, media reported.
He was rewarded with the added title of first secretary of state but denied he was now the “kingmaker” in the UK government.
On Wednesday, Brown repeatedly failed to give job assurances to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling.
Crucially, Darling remains in place — which commentators said showed Brown was critically damaged, without the authority or the nerve to sack Darling, nor touch other senior ministers like Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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