Anarchy in the UK

By Elias Isquith

As voters across the UK headed to the polls for the first time in 5 years last Thursday, no one was quite sure what the results would be. More than 48 hours since the results, which had David Cameron's Conservative Party holding the highest percentage of the popular vote (36%) and the most seats in Parliament (305), things may be even more unclear.

This is primarily due to the fact that although the Tories were the most successful of the three major parties, beating out Nick Clegg's upstart Liberal Democrats as well as incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party, they fell well short of the 326 necessary to hold an outright majority. Negotiations with the Liberal Democrats began almost immediately. But while the two groups share some ideological ground - both are, on economic policy, to Labour's right and both are looking to enact tax cuts and significant educational reform - reports indicate that the Tories have not been sufficiently willing to propose electoral reform, a fundamental Liberal Democrat goal.

If Cameron and Clegg were unable to forge a compromise, so it was thought, the Tories would be forced to govern with a minority. It would be first time such a government ruled in the UK since 1974, when Labour - to disastrous results - did the same.

But, in a surprising move that most are interpreting as an overture by Labour to the LibDems, Gordon Brown today announced his plans to reign as leader of the Labour Party in September, once his successor had been chosen. Labour and the LibDems have far more, ideologically, in common that the LibDems do with the Conservatives, but, even if the two were to join forces, they would still need to assemble what some are calling a "Progressive Coalition" - including smaller nationalist parties - to hold a majority in Parliament.

In short, things are moving very, very quickly - and they're quite messy, indeed.

My personal take: I don't see much of the upside for the LibDems to join with the Tories. Much of their base is young, progressive, and anti-Tory. A party that had a meteoric rise in the weeks before the vote - largely because of its image as an 'outsider' force - is unlikely to be able to translate a supplicant-position in a center-right government into future political success. Especially if the government in question is one that will be responsible for many unpopular public service cuts (a response to the UK's enormous budget problems).

The biggest stumbling block towards a coalition with Labour, however, was the aforementioned Brown, a profoundly unpopular politician who had the misfortune of becoming PM after 11 years of Tony Blair and before the greatest international financial crisis since the Great Depression. With Brown no longer an option as PM, the LibDems have much more room to negotiate. A Clegg PM-ship with a Labour cabinet may even be a possibility. But don't count the Tories out just yet.

In any event, here's a feed to an up-to-the-minute update of what's going on that's sure to be must-read material for those following the most confusing and exciting election the UK's had in a long, long time.

A Hushed Wave of Violence

By Eleanor Albert

The media was whipped into a frenzy after the tragedy of the Columbine shootings in the United States in 1999 – that was students-killing-students. In recent months, China has been home to a similarly shocking violence in an academic context, but in the Middle Kingdom children are the victims of teachers.

“There likely is no single explanation for the assaults in Fujian, Shandong, Jiangsu and, on Wednesday, in Guangdong Province, where a 33-year-old former teacher stabbed 15 fourth-and fifth-graders.”

“In Taixing, the city in Jiangsu Province where a knife-wielding man stabbed 28 kindergarten students and three adults on Thursday, critically wounding at least five children.”

“A crazed man who on Friday beat five toddlers with a hammer, then set himself on fire with two other children in his arms.”

“Students in four other schools and a day care center were attacked by knife-wielding men who stabbed dozens of children.”

The root of such violence? Most likely frustrations from an imbalanced society and rampant corruption at the local level. What is most horrific in the aftermath in China is that these issues are being suppressed and thrown into a box and sealed shut. From an analytical perspective, the Chinese government and state controlled media are “ignoring” the incidents because of the potential threat they pose to the credibility and legitimacy of the authoritarian party-rule that the CCP enjoys.

For now, the CCP can still get away with this. However, it is not a sustainable policy. The continued growth of the Chinese economy will lead to further engagement with the world and the Chinese will want reform and the means to make the CCP accountable. This is not to say that the Chinese people desire radical regime change—they are still extremely nationalistic and proud of the successes of China in the last 30 years under CCP leadership and will continue to look to that leadership in the future.