Douglas Davis

Nick Clegg's boyish good looks and silver tongue have been compared to former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair. But the more appropriate comparison is with U.S. President Barack Obama. For the unexpected surge in popularity of the neophyte leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats is proving to be transformative. British politics, it seems, will never be the same again. more

For a few days last week, it seemed that relations between Britain and Israel were about to plunge into the diplomatic permafrost, when it was revealed that a London court had issued an arrest warrant for Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni on charges of war crimes. But as the two countries emerge from their most bruising encounter in years, their ties might even end up strengthened.
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LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has come a long way from those heady days in April when he basked in the praise of U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders at the G-20 summit in London. He had, after all, just saved the world. That was then. Today, with his government in meltdown and his leadership teetering on the edge, only the power of inertia is keeping Brown upright. more

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown might have been excused for savoring the sweetest moment of his political career yesterday evening. But the G-20 summit was not all about Brown, and it was not all about economics. At times, politics threatened to take center stage and the gathering might be better remembered for its moments of political high theater than for its policy formulations. more

LONDON -- Simmering concern over Britain's post-9/11 anti-terrorist legislation turned to public outrage last month, when nine anti-terrorist officers used their expanded powers to raid the home and parliamentary office of Conservative legislator, Damian Green. More damaging to the credibility of police than their clumsy handling of Green's arrest, though, have been a slew of revelations demonstrating that they have abused their enhanced anti-terror powers. more

LONDON -- The slide toward Islamist radicalism in Great Britain is alarming. But the greatest cause for alarm is not only that the current threat might be greater than the ability of the security forces to contain it, but that the figures might have been hopelessly underestimated. more

LONDON -- All of Europe's leaders want a piece of Barack Obama, but British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has more reason than most to seek his favor. Under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Britain was regarded as Washington's closest ally in the war against Iraq, the war against the Taliban and what was once called the war against terrorism. Brown is anxious to shed Britain's image of slavish obedience to Washington, and a partnership with a popular American president based on a more politically attractive agenda would help him do so. more

LONDON -- These days, British troops -- over-stretched, under-funded and ill-equipped -- must contend not only with implacable enemies abroad, but also with a seemingly disinterested Defense Ministry and a sometimes hostile public at home. During October alone, the British government was castigated by two separate inquests into the deaths of British troops on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Add to that incidents of contempt directed at soldiers on leave, and it's no surprise that morale has plummeted. more

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it is widely accepted, has had a good credit crunch. A couple of months ago, just a year after taking over from the charismatic Tony Blair, Brown was virtually dead in the water. His support, it seemed, did not extend much beyond his own family. But recent opinion polls confirmed in public what the opposition Conservative Party had already conceded in private: Brown had dramatically returned from the dead. What remains to be seen is whether his revival is a new lease on life, or just a last gasp.
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