Tag Archives: government

Can a low-key professor fill the shoes of Washington's West Bank darling?

Posted on June 4, 2013

Salam Fayyad, who resigned as prime minister in April, was renowned internationally for winning donor trust. Rami Hamdallah, head of a West Bank university, is comparatively unknown.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas selected a little-known university chief to fill the outsized shoes of former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, renowned by international diplomats and in Israel for turning the Palestinian Authority from a basket case to a functioning government.

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Rami Hamdallah, a linguist who heads the West Banks Najah University, is toutedby the Palestinian governmentas a political independent, but analysts say he is an inexperienced politician largely dependent on Mr. Abbas. That raises questions about whether he will continue Mr. Fayyads record of groundbreaking reform sometimes at the expense of his relationship with the presidentat a time the US is pushing to revive the peace process.

“Hes a gray figure,” says Gershon Baskin, an Israeli activist and expert on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process who sometimes tries to pass messages between the sides. “I think that Abbas was looking for someone who is an administrator and not a politician, while retaining the confidence of the international community that the PA would not become corrupt.”

Fayyad announced in April that he was stepping down after years of tension with politicians in Abbas’s Fatah party, who feared Fayyad’s growing political cloutoutside the partyand resentedhisreforms that scaled back the influence of the party.

Abbas accepted the resignation despite appeals by Washington, which considered Fayyad, a US-trained economist, the best figure to shepherd continued reform of the government and tooverseePalestinian security services in the West Bank that coordinate with the Israeli military, a key element of stability there.

Observers speculate that Abbas wants another prime minister who would be seen by the international community as a technocrat independent of his partys machine. But that could also hinder his ability to govern effectively.

“He has little or no political experience and is unlikely to deal with the challenges that he will face,” says Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian political analyst.

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Can a low-key professor fill the shoes of Washington's West Bank darling?

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Gay Marriage Faces Bruising House Of Lords Battle

Posted on June 3, 2013

Ministers are braced for a new battle over plans to allow gay marriage as the legislation begins what is expected to be a bruising passage through the House of Lords.

Peers from all parties are set to unite in a bid to derail the controversial move, with David Cameron under pressure from Tory activists to abandon the reform.

But he was bolstered by the support of several senior Conservative figures who called on colleagues not to “hinder a measure whose time has come”.

Six former ministers – including five veterans of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinets – argued in a letter to The Times that the allowing same-sex marriage would strengthen the institution.

Some 86 members of the upper house have asked to speak in the second reading debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, forcing the Government to delay a vote to avoid a potential defeat.

It was postponed to later tomorrow amid fears opponents were more likely to stay on into the early hours in the hope of killing off the Bill.

Cameron has personally championed same-sex marriage in the face of vehement opposition from many in his own party and church leaders.

More Conservative MPs voted against it than for in the Commons, but Labour and Liberal Democrat support meant it was eventually passed by a majority of 205 in a free vote following a highly-charged debate.

The Tory leader has made efforts to calm tensions with party members over the issue but remains under serious pressure to make a U-turn.

In a rival letter to the newspaper, a number of former and serving local party chiefs launched a fierce attack on what they said was a “politically toxic” measure that was driving voters away from the party.

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Gay Marriage Faces Bruising House Of Lords Battle

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Peers plot gay marriage revolt

Posted on May 26, 2013

Seventy-five members of the Lords have already asked to speak in the debate, suggesting that dawn could rise on the Tuesday morning before all the peers have their say.

Government whips are fighting calls to allow the Lords to hold a second day of debate on what has become the one of the most emotive issue in parliament for many years.

Some critics of same sex marriage legislation believe the policy undermines the institution of marriage while others simply regard it as a distraction from the countrys economic problems.

Mr Cameron has championed homosexual weddings and Tory strategists hope it will entice new voters to the party at the next general election.

However, gay marriage so far appears only to have played havoc with the Conservative partys grassroots, sparking resignations of members and fierce criticism of the Prime Minister.

Lord Luce said: You cant suddenly pounce on the 2,000 year-old institution of marriage after such little consultation and with such little thought.

This is all part of the Prime Ministers ‘modernisation of our party, whatever that word is supposed to mean. This is all being handled in a very slap happy, careless manner.

This weekend there is speculation in Westminster that the Most Rev Justin Welby, the recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, will also voice his concerns about the policy in next weeks debate. One of his predecessors, Lord Carey of Clifton, has already put his name down to speak.

Lord Dear, the retired chief constable of West Midlands Police and crossbench peer leading opposition to the Bill, said that critics of the policy were not anti-homosexual.

This is ill-thought through legislation that is being rushed through, the peer said. There are some 8,000 further amendments that will be necessary to existing legislation because of this single policy.

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Peers plot gay marriage revolt

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Gay Marriage Bill Saved By Deal With Labour

Posted on May 22, 2013

The legalisation of gay marriage is set to be approved by MPs later after surviving a Tory backbench attempt to derail it.

An amendment which supporters warned could scupper the legislation altogether was easily defeated after the Government reached an agreement with Labour.

Some 56 Conservative backbenchers – half the number predicted – backed a move to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples.

Eight Labour MPs, three Lib Dems and three SDLP members joined the Tory critics but the measure was beaten in a free vote by a large majority of 370.

An embarrassing reverse was avoided after the Government accepted Labour calls for an immediate review of civil partnerships instead.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill is now expected to clear its final stages in the Commons today, although it will still face stiff resistance in the Lords.

Former Tory minister Tim Loughton accused ministers of making a “grubby deal” with Labour to see off his amendment and said the battle would continue in the upper chamber.

David Cameron is also still under fire from many in his own party who are vehemently opposed to the measure and warned it will cost vital Tory support.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller defended the Government’s tactics and insisted there was “overwhelming support” for the change, including within the Conservative Party.

She had argued that extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples – supported in principle by many backers of gay marriage – would cause significant delays and costs.

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Gay Marriage Bill Saved By Deal With Labour

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Gay marriage set to be approved after Cameron deal with Labour

Posted on May 22, 2013

If, as expected, it clears its final stages in the Commons today, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill still faces stiff resistance in the House of Lords.

Tim Loughton, a former Tory minister, accused ministers of doing a “grubby deal” with Labour to see off his amendment and said the battle would continue in the upper chamber.

The Conservative leadership remains under fire from many senior party members vehemently opposed to the measure.

One councillor last night accused ministers of showing “clear contempt for the deeply-held views of Conservative supporters” and fuelling an exodus to the UK Independence Party.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller defended the Government’s tactics insisting there was “overwhelming support” for the change, including among significant numbers in her own party.

Mrs Miller had argued that extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples – supported in principle by many backers of gay marriage – would cause significant delays and costs.

She put forward plans for a review after gay marriage had been operating for five years but then accepted Labour demands for an immediate referendum as the price of the party’s crucial support.

A series of other amendments tabled by Tory opponents of the reforms were also defeated – including one which would have given registrars who objected to same-sex unions the right to refuse to conduct marriages which was backed by 150 MPs, including 122 Conservatives.

Speaking after the vote, Mrs Miller said: “We are pleased that the House has accepted our amendment offering a review of civil partnerships. We feel that a review is the right way forward, and that no changes should be made to civil partnerships without being fully thought through.

She came under fire though from Mary Douglas, a Tory councillor in Wiltshire, who hit out after a group of more than 30 current and former local party chairmen warned the plans would make a Conservative election victory in 2015 impossible.

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Gay marriage set to be approved after Cameron deal with Labour

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Gay marriage Bill set to continue

Posted on May 20, 2013

Plans to allow gay marriage look set to overcome their latest parliamentary hurdle after Labour and the Government signalled they were ready to work together to defeat a backbench bid to wreck the legislation in the House of Commons.

A source close to Culture Secretary Maria Miller said she was “very relaxed” about a Labour proposal for an immediate consultation on extending civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, designed to defuse Tory backbench demands for straight couples to be given equality with homosexuals and lesbians in this area.

The deal means that the first same-sex marriages could take place as early as next summer if the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill clears the House of Lords, where it is expected to meet stiff resistance.

A Tory opponent of gay marriage has tabled a “wrecking amendment” to the Bill which would extend the option of civil partnerships to straight couples. While many advocates of same-sex marriage back the idea in principle, they fear it could delay the legislation or scupper it altogether after Mrs Miller said it would impose “significant” additional complexities and extra costs on the reforms.

The wrecking amendment, tabled by former families minister Tim Loughton, is expected to win the support of 100 or more Conservative backbenchers in a free vote in the Commons, but it needs the backing of large numbers of Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs to have any chance of being passed.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has made clear that he would not back amendments that would derail the Bill, and Labour has put forward plans for an immediate consultation on straight civil partnerships, which is expected to be enough to persuade the party’s MPs not to back the Loughton amendment.

Downing Street signalled Prime Minister David Cameron’s readiness to support the Labour proposal, saying it was “entirely consistent” with an amendment tabled last week by Mrs Miller which would require a future culture secretary to review civil partnerships five years after the introduction of gay marriage – but leaves open the option of an earlier review.

It is understood that Mrs Miller’s amendment was deliberately phrased in a vague way to allow an earlier review if there is pressure from Parliament for it to be conducted swiftly.

Gay marriage is the latest in a series of issues sparking friction between Mr Cameron and traditionalist Tory MPs and activists. A group of more than 30 current and former local party chairmen have written to the PM to warn that it will drive Tory voters to Ukip and make a Conservative election victory in 2015 impossible.

Mr Loughton has denied that his amendment is designed to derail the Bill, insisting that it is a matter of equality that heterosexuals too should be able to have civil partnerships. “If the Government think it is right to extend marriage to everyone then it has to be right to extend civil partnerships to everyone too,” he said.

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Gay marriage Bill set to continue

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Gay marriage law debate deepens UK leadership rift

Posted on May 20, 2013

British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a news conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York. – Source: Reuters

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s flagship gay marriage policy is set to deepen a rift in his own party with many of his own lawmakers preparing to defy him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

Up to half of Cameron’s 303 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament are expected to back an amendment the government says would sabotage its efforts to legalise gay marriage.

Cameron’s failure to unite his ruling Conservative Party over gay marriage and over his other major policy – renegotiating Britain’s membership of the European Union – risks undermining his chances of being re-elected in 2015 even as the economy is showing signs of returning to growth.

“It’s a perfect political storm. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cameron,” Iain Dale, a prominent gay radio presenter and conservative blogger, told Reuters.

The amendment seems unlikely to pass, but the scale of the revolt, the second of its kind on gay marriage, is likely to damage Cameron’s credibility anyway.

To compound Cameron’s discomfort, he is also battling to squash a perception that he despises his own party members for being too conservative after newspapers quoted an unnamed member of his entourage as calling activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

The word “loon”, meaning a crazy person in British English, dates back to the 15th century and was used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. Conservative activists say they want an apology for being insulted. Cameron’s aides say the prime minister doesn’t view his party workers as “loons”.

Geoffrey Howe, the former foreign secretary who helped trigger the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, has accused Cameron of losing control of his party, deepening the sense of gloom.

And for the first time since he was elected in 2010, Cameron himself has raised the possibility that his two-party coalition might not hold together until 2015 as policy differences with his junior partner, the Liberal Democrats, become more acute.

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Gay marriage bill limps on after Tory deal with Labour

Posted on May 20, 2013

David Cameron: caught between progressive and hardline elements. Photo: Reuters

LONDON: Britain’s coalition government must do a deal with Labour as it fights off attempts by Tory backbenchers to derail its controversial move to legalise gay marriage.

Tory MP Tim Loughton on Monday saw support for his amendment to allow straight couples to take up civil partnerships cut to 70 MPs after Culture Secretary Maria Miller pledged to review extending the measure immediately rather than after five years, as originally planned.

Ministers also promised to review the possibility of exempting teachers and schools from equality legislation forcing them to inform children about gay marriage in sex education classes, as they sought to appease Tory backbenchers angry at the reforms.

Mr Loughton, an education minister until last September’s reshuffle, at one stage seemed to have enough support among his colleagues on the Tory backbenches and Labour MPs to scupper the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by introducing an amendment allowing straight couples to take up civil partnerships.

Ministers had warned that if every cohabiting heterosexual couple had been allowed to enter a civil partnership, the Treasury would have been left facing pension liabilities of up to 4 billion ($6.27 billion), a cost that might have brought an end to the legislation.

The Labour leadership, who support the bill, were mindful that they could unwittingly ruin it by supporting Mr Loughton and tabled their own amendment calling on Ms Miller to review introducing civil partnerships for all as soon as possible.

The minister decided to take up the offer and on Monday night the government had seen off opposition, mainly from the Tory backbenches.

The debate has deepened the rifts in Prime Minister David Cameron’s party.

I warned him, others warned him. This was self-inflicted.

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Gay marriage bill limps on after Tory deal with Labour

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Gay marriage law strains Cameron's leadership

Posted on May 20, 2013

By Andrew Osborn

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron’s flagship gay marriage policy deepened a rift in his own party on Monday after many of his own MPs defied him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

Almost 40 percent of Cameron’s 303 MPs in the Commons voted for an ultimately unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed registrars to refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies if they objected.

Scores backed another amendment that the government said would have sabotaged its efforts to legalise same sex unions.

Cameron’s failure to unite his ruling Conservative Party over gay marriage and over his other major policy – renegotiating Britain’s membership of the European Union – risks undermining his chances of being re-elected in 2015 even as the economy is showing signs of returning to growth.

“It’s a perfect political storm. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cameron,” Iain Dale, a prominent gay radio presenter and conservative blogger, told Reuters.

The revolt, the second of its kind on gay marriage, is likely to damage Cameron’s credibility.

To compound his discomfort, he is also battling to squash a perception that he despises his own party members for being too conservative after newspapers quoted an unnamed member of his entourage as calling activists “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

The word “loon”, meaning a crazy person in British English, dates back to the 15th century and was used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. Conservative activists say they want an apology for being insulted. Cameron wrote to party workers on Monday to try to reassure them that he and his allies weren’t sneering at them.

Geoffrey Howe, the former foreign secretary who helped trigger the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, has accused Cameron of losing control of his party, deepening the sense of gloom.

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Gay marriage law strains Cameron's leadership

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Gay Marriage: MPs Voting On Government Bill

Posted on May 20, 2013

MPs are voting on changes to the government’s bill to legalise gay marriage.

One proposed amendment, allowing registrars opposed to the reforms to opt-out of performing the ceremonies, has been defeated.

However 150 MPs – mainly Tories – voted in favour of the amendment.

Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig said: “We’ve got getting on for 150 opponents on the Tory side of gay marriage, thats more than we had Euro rebels last week. Some of those are not Conservative, but the vast majority are.”

Meanwhile Labour has launched a bid to save the bill overall, amid fears that a “wrecking amendment” extending civil partnerships to heterosexual couples could stall the legislation.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller has warned that the amendment – tabled by Tory former families minister Tim Loughton, an opponent of gay marriage – poses “significant challenges” to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which is due to be subject to divisive debates in the House of Commons over the next twodays.

David Cameron’s official spokesman earlier said the Prime Minister was expected to vote against the Loughton amendment, but declined to say whether defeat would scupper the bill.

Ministers warn that straight civil partnerships would introduce significant delays to the introduction of same-sex marriage and impose additional costs ofas much as 4bn. They have put forward an alternative proposal for a review of the future of civil partnerships to take place in five years’ time.

Now Labour has put forward its own amendment, which would spark an immediate consultation on straight civil partnerships.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News: “We are trying to rescue the bill from the mess it seems to be getting into now, everything seems to be getting sucked into this vortex of Tory infighting.

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Gay Marriage: MPs Voting On Government Bill

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