The coalition government: Sweetening the pill

A coalition is a better alternative for Britain – and for Liberals – than a Conservative minority government

The window of opportunity for the centre-left opened on Monday. The Liberal Democrats stared through it for less than 24 hour. Then the window closed once more, and now – for the first time in 13 years – Britain has a Conservative prime minister, albeit one of moderate temperament who intends to serve at the head of a coalition. By this afternoon it was clear that there would be no Labour-Liberal Democrat alliance. Instead, Nick Clegg and his negotiators threw in their lot with David Cameron and his Tory party.

That decision sealed Labour’s fate and ended Gordon Brown’s prime ministership. Soon, Mr Brown was speaking from No 10 for the final time, giving a touching farewell, before one final journey to Buckingham Palace. His dignified statement included his immediate resignation as Labour leader, a move that shores up his reputation as a party man by preparing the way for Labour to face the future with a new leader as soon as possible.

By the close of the day, however, Labour was very much old news. Within half an hour of Mr Brown’s departure, it was the new man's turn in the spotlight, delivering a measured address which gave a generous nod to Mr Brown's record of public service

After the first hung election in 36 years, the politicians of Britain’s radical centre and centre-right have responded by stretching out across party lines to arrive at the verge of a formal coalition government, the first since the second world war. With Conservatives and Liberal Democrats looking set to sit side by side round the cabinet table, it is possible that party politics will never be quite the same again. Reports that the new government will soon fix parliamentary terms will, we hope, prove to be only the first of many indicators of how the fact of coalition will rewrite the political rules.

Such a coalition is a better alternative for Britain – and for Liberals – than a Conservative minority government, never mind a Tory majority. The presence of Liberal Democrats around the cabinet table and the possibility of direct Liberal Democrat ministerial authority in some policy areas is a cause for hope, not despair. Every concession – whether on tax or civil liberty or the shape of the government – that the negotiators have won from the Tories over the past few days is a small reason to hope that Mr Clegg’s party will make their values and their presence felt, for the better.

All this will be tested in the crucible over the coming months. The new government will take office with the books awash in red ink. Both the yellow and the blue wings of the new alliance were well aware of this, and yet they both campaigned in the recent election on the promise that they could cut taxes related to income. The great test of both parties will be whether the rich can be made to pay their fair share for the debt, or whether instead the burden will fall on the poor and those on lower incomes through service cuts and rises in VAT. Labour, regrouping, will see future opportunity here. Today, though, may still be a liberal moment of a kind. Not the one we, and others, sought. A very fragile one. But not a moment entirely without possibility either.

The Guardian, May 1, 2010

Task 33. What genre is the article above?

Analyse the syntactical structure of its headline. Translate it into Russian.

Transform the lead of the article above into a question. Can you answer it?

Task 34. Analyse the underlined words and expressions in the article. Which of them are emotionally charged? Prove your point.

Make linguistic analysis of the underlined words and expressions in the article.

Task 35. Listen to Audio Track 17. What is its essence?

Task 36. Listen to Audio Track 17 lead and transcribe it. Analyse the grammatical features of the sentences making up the lead.

1. …

2. …

3. … to take … .

Task 37. Listen to the report. Close the sentences with relevant information from the report.

1. LibDems are back in government for the first time in … years.

2. In his speech at the party conference, Nick Clegg is going to …

3. The LibDems formed a coalition because …

4. The coalition is planning­­­­­­­­­­­­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­…

Task 38. Did you come across any stylistic means (parallel constructions, metaphors) in the piece? Identify them all, write them down.

Task 40. Watch Video 44 and get its idea. What genre is it?

Task 41. Watch the piece again and say who Ed Balls and Lord Sainsbury are.

Task 42. Close the gaps in the script. Make the lexical analysis of sentences No 1-7, 9. Comment on your findings. Make the grammatical analysis of sentences No 8, 10,11 .

1. …1… , on to The Sunday Times…

2. We don’t know if this is a …1… quick reaction to Ed Ball …

3. … he doesn’t think he’s going to give …1… …2… at the moment.

4. … he …1… doesn’t want give any money …

5. There’s a …1… of nothing left.

6. It would be difficult for Ed Miliband if there’s very little in the…1…

7. Are they …1… …2… as a party?

8. No, no, the election.

9. They were …1-2… to their last penny.

10) Because nobody wanted G.Brown …1-2… …3-4…

11) Of course, I …1… , if you are in opposition you need more money …2… a better campaign trying …3-6…

Task 43. Recount the video in two sentences, put them down. Be ready to read them out and discuss in class.

Task 44. Revise all new words of the Unit (Tasks 2, 7, 9) and below. Get ready for a quiz.

1) leadership challenge; 2) to cling on to the leadership; 3) Cabinet reshuffle 4) to put a brave face on something; 5) to take sth into account; 6) to step down (to resign); 7) to go to the polls; 8) Welsh Assembly; 9) to be held (in March) 10) Labour landslide; 11) to cut Westminster out of legislation process; 12) to give somebody a kicking; 13) a laughing stock; 14) PM’s successor; 15) to turn one’s back on; 16) to inflict maximum damage on; 17) a key moment in something; 18) a share of the vote; 19) to breathe fresh life into something; 20) to make somebody redundant; 21) to make savings; 22) the scandal rambles on; 23) to tip the balance; 24) the autumn party conference; 25) left of the centre party; 26) Deputy PM; 27) televised debate; 28) to sell something on the doorstep; 29) the window of opportunity; 30) by the close of the day; 31) to shore up; 32) hung election; 33) red ink; 34) to fix parliamentary term; 35) to ram / drive the message home; 36) to take a nosedive in the polls.

Task 45. In the list above indicate the words and word combinations that can be regarded as expressive lexical means of TV and radio discourse. Classify each group into subgroups.