Political shockwaves

In a newspaper interview last year, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised many readers by revealing he prepared himself for the rigors of leading the country by turning up the Arctic Monkeys on his iPod.

In recent weeks, however, one can assume that Mr. Brown's iTunes list has undergone a radical revamp. One could imagine the prime minister defiantly deleting songs like "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash and uploading the likes of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing." Considering the state Brown now finds himself in, "Anarchy in the UK" may be more appropriate listening.

Brown's Labour Party is in tatters, his premiership is in severe jeopardy and British politics is in a state of disarray not seen for a generation. And yet the only person who doesn't believe that the prime minister is a 'dead man walking' is Gordon Brown himself.

It is possible that the scale and speed of the MPs expenses scandal caught the prime minister and his aides out. But for a man who prides himself on his meticulous planning, this seems as unlikely as the now dwindling belief that personal expenditure alone is enough to bring down a government.

Lack of leadership exposes Brown's frailties

Party problems have been undermining the government since the New Labour project began, as far back as 1994. So why have they suddenly converged into the perfect political storm, one which looks set to sink Gordon Brown?

Bernd Becker, a former New Labour campaign strategist, told Deutsche Welle that he believes the apparent mission to rid the Labour Party of its leader has been in the pipeline for some time.

"There have been moves to get rid of Brown ever since he took over from Blair, but this scandal is obviously being capitalized upon," Becker said. "The sad fact is that Gordon Brown is just not up to the job. He is the perfect example of political Murphy's Law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. And the reason for this must be traced back to his lack of leadership. It's stunning how the government is falling apart and how little Brown can do to stop it.”

Conservatives set to profit

Work and pensions secretary James Purnell, one of a string of senior ministers to resign in recent days, stuck a knife into Brown on his way out, calling on him to resign.

"I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less likely," Purnell told Brown in a letter published in newspapers.

Indeed, Brown’s problems will likely usher in a Conservative era, Becker said.

"The way things are going Labour is going to be wiped for a generation," Becker said. "The whole campaign against Brown has been a strategic disaster and has played into the Tories’ hands."

David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party who is expected to become the next prime minister, said Friday that the government is "falling apart in front of our eyes" and renewed his call for a snap general election.The fallout from the British crisis may have ominous repercussions for the other center-left governments under pressure around Europe.

European public skeptical of left's governance

Experts across Europe have been talking about a crisis within the left with fears over terrorism, the subsequent anxieties caused by immigration and the sustainability issues of welfare and social systems all putting the progressive left under increasing pressure.

The on-going global economic downturn and concerns over the effects of globalization have also added to the sense of crisis as the European electorate loses faith in neo-liberalism and leftwing proposals to remake capitalism.

The public mood across Europe appears to one of deep skepticism when it comes to the governing center-left parties who have used the surpluses generated by successful finance capital to fund their social programs over the past 10 years.

More and more people believe the center-left is failing to offer a credible alternative to how to ensure wealth and security and have watched as conservative parties, usually less enthusiastic about the growth of finance capitalism, have clamped down harder on regulating the financial sector than the left.

Europe watches UK's swing to right with concern

The clearest evidence of a turn to the right can be seen in the polls of two of Europe's largest countries; Italy and the UK. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition is consistently ahead of the left, while Cameron's conservatives in Britain have been consistently ahead of Labour for the past 18 months - by a margin, in the latest opinion poll, of about 13 points - a state of affairs that is worrying people in Europe as well as in Britain.

"If Cameron gets in, he will call a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty," said Becker. "If he does this, you can forget about Ireland because if the UK votes on this, it will kill the treaty. Everybody, not just those in Britain, is worried about what is happening there. Europe is very concerned and many hope that Gordon Brown can survive."

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Trinity Hartman