Brown pledges clean-up after scandal

LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised radical reform of the political system yesterday after disclosures of lawmakers' perks sent his Labour party crashing to an historic low in opinion polls.

The ruling Labour party faces a difficult test in local and European elections this week and speculation is mounting over Brown's political future.

Two weekend polls suggested Labour could slip to third place in Thursday's European Parliament election.

In a bid to regain the initiative and re-assert his authority, Brown said he planned to introduce a binding code of conduct for politicians, who would be punished if they were found to have abused the system of parliamentary allowances.

He warned other public institutions they also would face tougher, independent scrutiny in a wide-ranging clean-up operation.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr program he had been "shocked" by the abuses that had been uncovered. "To be honest, what I've seen offends my Presbyterian conscience. What I've seen is something that is appalling," he said. "There are clear cases which may have to be answered for fraud."

Brown said members of parliament would have their receipts for the past four years examined by an independent body and pledged to bring in a "transparent democracy" where all these things were above board.

"The first thing we've got to do is clean up the system, clean it out, open it up and change it for good," he said.

Support for Brown's government has crumbled after weeks of reports about lawmakers claiming public money for anything from swimming pools to tennis court repairs. Although politicians from all major parties have been involved, Labour appears to be bearing the brunt of voters' anger.

An ICM poll in the Sunday Telegraph found only 17 percent of voters planned to vote Labour in Thursday's European election, behind the Conservatives on 29 percent and the Liberal Democrats on 20 percent.

More Britons were inclined to vote Liberal Democrat than Labour in a national election for the first time since 1987.

A poll for the Times newspaper on Saturday suggested Labour could slump to third place in the European election, behind the Conservatives and the anti-European Union UK Independence Party.

Brown was adamant he would not stand down to make way for a potentially more popular successor from within his party.

"No, because I'm dealing with the issues at hand," he told the BBC.

Brown restated his view that it would be a mistake to call an early national election.

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron said the case for a snap poll had got "10 times stronger" and he would consider giving voters the power to recall members of parliament who failed to live up to their responsibilities.

Brown refused to be drawn on whether he would reshuffle key ministerial posts after next Thursday's European election.

The Sunday Times reported that Brown may promote schools secretary Ed Balls, a close ally, to finance minister in a gamble to restore Labour's political fortunes.

Reuters

(China Daily 06/01/2009 page8)