Politics: Gordon Brown 政治：布朗
[audio]http://www.24en.com/bbc/dl_mp3/bbc_gordon_brown.mp3[/audio][color=#3f3f3f][font=Verdana, 宋体, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=12px]Yesterday British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a speech to members of his party promising “[b]a new settlement for new times[/b]”.
[p=21, 2, left]But the Prime Minister knows that for his leadership, [b]time might be running out[/b]. His Labour Party are now 22 points behind the Conservatives and unless they improve their position, the next election will be won by the leader of the [b]Opposition[/b], David Cameron.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Gordon Brown’s speech was aimed at those within Labour who think the only way their party can win again is for him to go as soon as possible.[/p][p=21, 2, left]How did it come to this? When Mr Brown came into office 14 months ago, he was [b]riding high in opinion polls[/b] and had a secure place in his party. His serious, no-nonsense approach was seen as a refreshing change from Mr Blair’s [b]slick[/b] and prepared style.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Mr Brown’s [b]honeymoon[/b] came to an end this time last year. There were hints that he might try to [b]capitalise[/b] on his lead in the polls by calling a[b]snap election[/b]. The Prime Minister allowed [b]speculation[/b] to build for several weeks before finally [b]ruling out an autumn election[/b].[/p][p=21, 2, left]The delay allowed the Prime Minister’s opponents to call him [b]indecisive[/b]and even [url=http://d.24en.com/s/?wd=coward]coward[/url]ly.[/p][p=21, 2, left]There followed unpopular changes to the tax system, which left some poorer voters worse off. This led to an embarrassing [b]U-turn[/b] that further[b]eroded[/b] Mr Brown’s image as a [b]safe pair of hands[/b] to run the economy.[/p][p=21, 2, left]And then we have the growing financial crisis that has already caused one UK bank to be [b]nationalised[/b] and another, HBOS, to be taken over.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Some of his opponents say Mr Brown must [b]shoulder some of the blame[/b]for recent events, since he was Chancellor for 10 years under Tony Blair.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Yesterday the Prime Minister accepted that his first year in power might have gone better, saying, “Where I've made mistakes [b]I'll put my hand up[/b] and try to put them right”.[/p][p=21, 2, left]But he insisted that his long experience meant he was best placed to handle the financial crisis.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Perhaps speaking of Mr Cameron, the Prime Minister said, “[b]This is no time for a novice[/b]”.[/p][p=21, 2, left]The Prime Minister’s [b]impassioned[/b] speech has impressed many supporters, but it is not clear if it will be enough to [b]quieten the dissent[/b]within his party.[/p][/size][/font][/color]
页:
[1]