New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown named a rising star and
reported critic of the Iraq War, David Miliband, as foreign
minister yesterday in a wide-ranging government shake-up.
Miliband, 41, was once mooted as a leadership rival to Brown,
who promoted trusted ally Alistair Darling, 53, to take on his old
job of finance minister.
Brown, who switched from finance minister to prime minister on
Wednesday after Tony Blair resigned, has said he must meet a demand
for change from an electorate tired with 10 years of Labor Party
rule, and draw a line under the unpopular Iraq War.
Britain's new
Prime Minister Gordon Brown (center) heads his first Cabinet
meeting in 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Inset:
Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
There was a stark reminder for Brown of the chaos in Iraq on
Wednesday. Three British troops were killed by a roadside bomb in
Basra on Wednesday, taking the number of British deaths in Iraq
since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 156.
Analysts said the appointment of Darling signalled no major
change in economic policy after Brown's successful decade-long
tenure as finance minister, but Miliband's promotion marked a shift
of tone in foreign affairs.
The jobs given to other Brown allies such as his leadership
campaign manager, Jack Straw, right-hand man at the Treasury, Ed
Balls, and fellow Scot Douglas Alexander underlined the priorities
of Brown's policy agenda.
As justice minister Straw, 60, will be charged with getting a
parliamentary consensus for constitutional reform and sorting out a
prisons overcrowding crisis.
Balls, 40, was named children, schools and families minister,
signalling Brown's focus on convincing the electorate he will
improve education and stand up for working families.
Many Britons remain unhappy with Britain's public services, even
though Blair's government pumped billions of pounds of extra funds
into them. Brown gave the health portfolio to Alan Johnson, who was
pipped in a vote for Labor Party deputy.
Alexander, 39, who will run the prime minister's general
election campaign, became minister for international development.
Brown pushed development to the top of the international agenda
when Britain held the presidency of the Group of Eight in 2005.
Shift in foreign tone
Brown has accepted responsibility for the decision to back the
invasion of Iraq but will want to distance his government from
Blair's approach, which was deeply unpopular among voters.
"The opportunities and challenges of the modern world require,
in my view, a diplomacy that is patient as well as purposeful,
which listens as well as leads," said Miliband.
Britain has been drawing down troop numbers in Iraq and now has
about 5,500 in the south of the country. While Brown has pledged to
respect Britain's commitments in Iraq, there is speculation the
withdrawal may accelerate.
"Miliband wasn't closely associated with the decisions that were
taken in the Iraq War," said David Mepham, head of the
international unit at the Institute for Public Policy Research.
"It's an asset when meeting foreign secretaries in other
countries in getting people to focus instead on the problem of how
to move things forward in Iraq," he said.
Miliband was reportedly skeptical about the decision to go to
war in Iraq and, according to media reports, voiced his dismay in
Cabinet at Blair's reluctance to call for an immediate ceasefire in
last year's Lebanon War.
Hilary Benn was appointed environment minister while former
pensions minister John Hutton will take responsibility for energy
policy in a new business and enterprise ministry.
Brown will also try to respond to demands for more affordable
housing in a country that saw house prices nearly triple during
Blair's decade in power. He is expected to make several significant
policy announcements in the coming weeks.
(China Daily via agencies June 29, 2007)
