英语学习网

Study English at Home

首页 | 托福(TOEFL) | 雅思(IELTS) | GMAT | GRE | 签证/留学/移民 | 工作求职 | 英语资料 | 英语作文 | 英语考试 | 英语听力 | 英语口语
当前位置:首页 > 英语资料 > 正文
Blair reshuffles cabinet after election losses
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2006-05-23 字体: [ ]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has overhauled his cabinet after his ruling Labor Party suffered big losses in local elections across England. 

Mr. Blair's government is facing one of its biggest challenges in the aftermath of local elections that saw a surge in support for the opposition Conservative Party.

The Treasury chief and heir apparent to the prime minister, Gordon Brown, has told British radio the elections are a wake up call for the scandal-shaken Labor Party to renew itself and regain public trust.

"I think there is always a danger when a party has been in power for nine years, and this is the warning shot that we have got to address," said Brown.

Prime Minister Blair began reshuffling his cabinet just hours after the elections results came in, removing his ministers for law-and-order, defense and foreign affairs.

The first to go was Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who was battered by recent revelations that his department had freed more than a 1,000 foreign convicts who should have faced deportation hearings.

Clarke says he is returning to a back-bench seat in the House of Commons.

"The prime minister, as is his right and responsibility, has made the judgment that my continued occupation of the post of home secretary is likely to stand in the way of the continued reforms which remain necessary," he said. "I do not think it would be appropriate to remain in government in these circumstances."

The new home secretary is John Reid, who had been defense minister. Des Brown is replacing Reid in that job.

In the other major change, Jack Straw has been demoted from foreign secretary to leader of the House of Commons. The new Foreign Secretary is Margaret Beckett.

The Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, has scoffed at the cabinet shakeup.

"I don't think this reshuffle will be enough," he said. "What we need in this country is not a reshuffle of the government; we need a replacement to the government."

The local elections saw the Conservatives' share of the vote rise to 40 percent, its best performance since 1992. Labor, and Britain's third party, the Liberal Democrats, each took about one quarter of the votes.

Vocabulary:

heir apparent: 有确定继承权的人

scoff: to mock at(嘲笑)


↑返回顶部 打印本页 关闭窗口↓
用户名: 新注册) 密码: 匿名评论 [所有评论]
评论内容:(不能超过250字,需审核后才会公布,请自觉遵守互联网相关政策法规。
§最新评论:
推荐文章
·两遍阅读法 顺利通过CET各级考试
·如何顺利通过CET各级考试
·各省市CET广播频率集合
·12月24日CET考试温馨提示
·考试技巧可以助你顺利过CET
·细节决定成败,CET应试技巧助你拿
·赴美申请提前半年ACT、SAT很关键
·解析美国高考SAT 拿满分不是不可
热点文章
·两遍阅读法 顺利通过CET各
·英语大师们谈英语学习成功
·俞敏洪从100套真题中提炼
·阅读技巧加油站
·新东方作文主题预测
·英语历年真题词汇手册(199
·三十五个经典句型 帮你过
·如何顺利通过CET各级考试
英语学习
·两遍阅读法 顺利通过CET各
·五点备战“复合式听写”
·细节决定成败,CET应试技巧
·写作错误与分析
·英语大师们谈英语学习成功
·教育部大学英语分数制与题
·俞敏洪从100套真题中提炼
·阅读技巧加油站
www.0641.com 英语学习网