British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called the Queen to signal his resignation, paving way for Tory leader David Cameron to be made Prime Minister. Brown has also resigned as Labour leader effective immediately.
Mr Brown will head to Buckingham Palace to resign, and David Cameron will make his separate trip to the palace to advise the Queen he can form a new government with the support of the Liberal Democrats.
Let’s hope by relying on the Lib-Dems that the Tories can’t wreck too much havoc in the UK this time around.
Meanwhile, The Guardian has photographed a paper held by Nick Clegg that appears to set out what the Tory-Lib Dems deal is set to include:
The Liberal Democrats and the Tories appear to be discussing a deal that would give Nick Clegg‘s party a minister in every government department, according to a handwritten note that offers a tantalising glimpse inside the negotiations.
Captured on camera today by Guardian photographer Graeme Robertson, the note is written in blue ink by Clegg on a single A4 sheet folded in half.
It appears to set out the main areas under discussion, ranging from voting reform to the dividing up of government jobs between the parties. However, it is not clear whether the note details the Lib Dems’ demands or the Conservatives‘ offer to Clegg.
Based on an inexpert translation of the spidery script by the Guardian, it appears to begin by listing the Tories’ “red lines” on which they are not prepared to give ground: Europe, immigration and the Trident nuclear deterrent.
It then moves on to “AV”: the alternative vote reform to the electoral system that the Tories are now offering to put to a referendum in a bid to secure the support of the Lib Dems to form a government.
The list also includes:
• The adoption of reforms to party funding proposed by Sir Hayden Phillips but shelved by Labour and the Tories.
• Funding for opposition parties so-called “short money”.
• Fixed-term parliaments.
While the Lib Dems said yesterday they wanted clarification from the Tories on education, income tax policy and voting reform, neither schools nor tax are mentioned at all in the note.
But it is the detail at the end of the note which is most revealing. Under the heading “Roles” Clegg lists the two main issues as “ratios” and “me”.
The last three lines appear to detail the proportion of Lib Dem MPs in a Lib-Con government, as well as the share of the total number of votes for the coalition contributed by Clegg’s party.
The note appears to suggest that the party’s share of ministerial roles should be in proportion to its share of votes approximately 39% of the total. The sheet of paper includes a series of figures evidently showing the rationale behind this claim.
The most eye-catching phrase, apparently referring to government jobs for Clegg’s MPs, comes in the final line: “one in each dept”.
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