Financial Times Editorial Comment: Brown makes a mischievous exit

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Brown makes a mischievous exit
Copyright by the Financial Times
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
Published: May 10 2010 20:30 | Last updated: May 10 2010 20:30
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ace4580c-5c68-11df-93f6-00144feab49a.html


Gordon Brown’s announcement that he will resign as Labour party leader has been cast as an act of selfless statesmanship. The timing, however, suggests otherwise. Coming just as negotations between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats reached a delicate stage, Mr Brown’s move seemed calculated to cause maximum disruption and open the way to a Labour-Lib Dem power-sharing deal.

Mr Brown was always the biggest barrier to such a pact. Now, with his departure scheduled after a forthcoming leadership contest, Labour – which lost last week’s general election – has a chance to scrabble back into office. While some will see this improbable outcome as a means to construct a new progressive alliance, others will recognise it as a coalition of the losers which will only command a parliamentary majority with the support of a rag-tag collection of nationalists and regionalists in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Britain deserves better than this. The country needs a new government capable of setting out a credible route back to fiscal rectitude. The price of a Lib-Lab agreement would be too high. To command the support of the regional parties, the government would almost certainly have to exempt them from the brunt of the severe cuts in public spending which will be required.

For the Lib Dems, the prospect of working with Labour has one overriding benefit: the chance of electoral reform which would at last give the party a chance to secure a share of power commensurate with its electoral support. This newspaper has sympathy with this aspiration. But it is not the primary order of business for a new government.

The chaos in the financial markets in recent weeks is a reminder of the vulnerability of countries running huge deficits. Britain is not Greece, but it is still set to run up a budget deficit of more than 11 per cent of GDP this year. So far, the markets have been relatively sanguine about this gaping hole. But that mood may easily change, especially if there is continuing uncertainty about the formation of Britain’s next government – or its will to tackle the deficit.

The best outcome would be a deal between the Conservatives – who won the most parliamentary seats and votes – and the Lib Dems. Together they would have a clear working majority in the House of Commons. To cement a deal requires a spirit of give-and-take between David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the two respective leaders, and their foot-soldiers. Mr Cameron’s offer of a referendum on electoral reform to the Lib Dems is therefore encouraging.

Labour has made a more generous offer of electoral reform immediately with more to come down the line. However tempting that might seem to Lib-Dem rank and file, Mr Clegg must not be distracted by Labour’s siren calls. Mr Cameron, equally, must show that he can deliver his own offer. A deal is possible, and it would serve the national interest.