Blair to step down; Brown to be new PM today

It's democracy in action! Yesterday, Tory MP Quentin Davies defected to Labour and wrote an unusually vicious letter of resignation to David Cameron, claiming that under his leadership, the Conservatives have 'ceased to believe in anything'. In short, even if you disagree with Brown's vision for Britain, at least he actually has one. Cameron is learning the hard way that you can' just smile and get through: anyone who thinks that this is what New Labour did is gravely mistaken.

Cameron's response to Davies consisted of three main points: (1) we knew that you were going; (2) the fact that you're going shows that you don't care about the environment; and (3) we don't really care that you're leaving. The last of those claims is the only one which might be remotely true - Davies has always been seen as something of a maverick. He also represents the biggest problem for Conservatives, one which they've been pretending doesn't exist anymore. Europe. It doesn't look like the Tories will ever be able to get over that issue without a major schism occurring.

So anyway, Quentin Davies's defection is naturally a big boost to Brown, who apparently engineered it to occur the day before he takes over the country. That's right: at sometime today (just before lunch time?), Tony Blair will travel to Buckingham Palace to resign and Brown will follow hot on his heels to 'be invited to form Her Majesty's Government'. It's just a bit rich that there can be a new PM without any votes being cast by anyone, but more so that he has to kiss the hands of an old lady who thinks she's God's representative on Earth. Worth noting that the removal vans are already outside No. 10.

Expect major policy announcements on health and education in the days to come. There will probably also be an initial declaration 'restoring power to Parliament', with a promise that major issues will not be decided on by the PM alone. This is Brown's way of promising that Iraq won't happen again… or that if it does, it will be everyone's fault.

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For some Spanish politics, don't miss Graeme's latest post at South Of Watford. He talks about the morally corrupt PP regional government in Madrid. I think it's fair to say that South Of Watford is the best written and most interesting of Spain's English-language political blogs. Eschewing the nasty, unconsidered tone of other writers, it's essential reading for anyone interested by Spanish politics.

In other news, I have been nominated to become president of the world. By 'Lineman' on the Guardian's Music Blog. I'm not ruling anything out just yet, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy the pressure.

As it's summer time, there'll be even less blogging than usual going on around here. Spain in general comes to a complete halt for about two months from mid-July to mid-September. We've got a 'proper' summer holiday to look forward to this year, as well as two more weddings in England.

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June 27, 2007 | Filed Under Home, PP, Politics, Spain, UK 

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