NEW HOPES FOR THE UNION JACK

Gordon Brown's name grabbed the world headlines almost from the first days of his rise to the post of British prime minister. Apart from the natural focus on a new person on the international political scene, there were several other reasons. The most important were the attempts to commit terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow, as well as courageous political proposals from Brown himself. The prime minister is clearly full of desire for changes to British foreign policy and of determination to counter any foreign threat.

Killer doctors

If this is true, then such a pro-active and decisive leader will be good for Britain. This country remains one of the principal targets of international terrorism. Two car bombs were found and defused in London on 29 June. The next day, 30 July, a burning car crashed into the passenger terminal at Glasgow airport. The level of terrorist threat in Britain was immediately raised to the highest critical level. The main reason why the planned explosions never materialized is that they had been prepared in quite a primitive way, technically. Experts immediately concluded that the terrorists were self-taught. However, there is another interesting detail in the attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow - the "respectable" occupation of those arrested on suspicion of involvement in the explosions. It turned out that not only do they all come from Middle Eastern countries and India, but they are also employees of medical institutions in Britain's national health system. As a result, shocked residents of  Britain are now trying to get used to the idea that these terrorist attacks had been planned not somewhere abroad, but in the centre of their country and, what's more, in medical institutions. In turn, the authorities immediately started thinking about how the suspects met each other and got to know each other before coming to Britain. However, there is one more question: if the doctors were linked to Al-Qaeda (Gordon Brown himself proposed this theory), then how could this, as it were, experienced terrorist organization send such unprepared people on this "mission"? Also, it seems that terrorists can be not only illiterate fanatics, but also doctors who have work permits in Britain. At this moment, there is quite a large number of foreign doctors in the country and they are helping to overcome the shortage of personnel. For example, 90,000 of the 239,000 doctors registered by the General Medical Council got their education and medical experience outside Britain. All in all, there are more than 5,000 registered doctors from Middle Eastern countries working in the United Kingdom. About 2,000 of them are from Iraq, though it is not easy to get a doctor's licence in Britain - you have to sit many tests and exams. But now it is absolutely clear to London that the country's medical sector needs serious reform. Gordon Brown has already announced that the procedure for checking the reliability of foreigners who apply for a job in the country's national health system will be toughened. However, will the British still trust doctors from Middle Eastern countries? We have to bear in mind here that British people have been living under permanent threat of explosions for a long time, as these explosions might happen anywhere. Recently, on 7 July, London marked the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed 56 lives. At that time, four suicide bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay, planted bombs on three underground trains and a passenger bus, as a result of which 52 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Of course, life in such a metropolis as London can not just stop, but could change in some way because of the terrorist threat. Nevertheless, many residents of Britain are in fear for their lives anyway. In order to understand this, it is enough to look through their (even Russian-speaking) blogs and forums. Moreover, such a situation affects people's daily lives and has its own effect on the plans of rank-and-file people. For example, this affects those who want to spend their holidays abroad. In the few days following the botched terrorist attacks, about 3,000 British Airways flights failed to keep to schedule. Some central streets of the British capital, for example the Tower Bridge, were congested because of the temporary police checkpoints installed there. "We must be vigilant and always be on the alert. It is impossible to frighten Britain and the British people. We will not give in to the terrorists and will not allow them to disrupt our lifestyle," Gordon Brown said in his address to his fellow citizens. In order to monitor financial activities as well as the movement and contacts of terrorists, he suggested making a "world-wide list" of people suspected of sabotage activities. The new prime minister made it clear that he will make every effort to protect the residents of Britain and, for the time being, people believe him. Moreover, we can even say that the failed terrorists helped the new prime minister become more popular. According to the latest opinion polls, the Labour Party is more popular than the Conservatives. Brown's personal rating skyrocketed by 14 points - 77 per cent of respondents described him as a strong leader, whereas only 43 per cent regard Conservative leader David Cameron as a strong politician. Also, 37 per cent regard the ruling party as strong and only 34 per cent - their opponents. More than one year ago, the Labour Party was supported by 34 per cent of respondents and the Conservatives by 36 per cent. Now the main aim for Brown and his team is to strengthen this support.

Problems of the "British lion"

No-one doubts that the new head of the Cabinet of Ministers will have to take many important and fateful decisions in his post. Present-day Britain, despite its apparent stability, is a country with many problems. For example, a number of experts think one is relations between the United Kingdom and the Muslim world. Britain has one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe, and the British government has to take account of its existence. But it is not clear yet what will happen to public opinion there. After the London terrorist attacks of 7 July 2007, there were attacks on Muslims. This time, once again, everyone paid attention to the nationality of the terrorist doctors. It is notable that the attempt to carry out explosions in British cities was made after Queen Elisabeth II granted a knighthood to the controversial writer Salman Rushdie, the author of the Satanic Verses, which has been condemned in Islamic countries for many years.

We should not forget that ideas of regional separatism are quite active in Britain. It is no accident that, trying to strengthen the morale and patriotism of his citizens, Gordon Brown cancelled the rule according to which government agencies were allowed to raise the flag of the United Kingdom on only 18 days a year - on especially important holidays, the British media reports. "We had a very strange rule for many years. We got rid of this rule, and now public organizations themselves will decide when to raise the flag," Brown said, hoping that the Union Jack will help unite the British people who, according to polls conducted by the authorities, more and more often refer to themselves not as British, but as English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish. London has been especially concerned about Scottish separatism of late. The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Alex Salmond, who won the local elections recently, has promised to hold a referendum on Scotland's state independence in 2010, although within the British Commonwealth. In any case, many experts are inclined to think that things are unlikely to get to that point. Brown himself, who is also Scottish, promised that Britain will never turn into a second Balkans.

Share with parliament

The new prime minister thinks that "the restoration of trust in British democracy" is an important priority for the government. During his first address to the lower chamber of the British Parliament, he proposed that deputies carry out constitutional reforms in the country in order to strengthen democracy and increase the population's trust in government institutions. For example, Brown suggested discussing in society the issue of adopting a law on rights and the constitution. The thing is that Britain, as we know, does not have a constitution, but only constitutional laws (a combination of laws and legal precedents).

The reforms proposed by Brown are aimed at limiting the role of executive power. The new prime minister is sure that the right to declare war on behalf of Britain, as well as to dissolve or recall parliament during holidays in case of emergencies should be handed over from the prime minister to parliament. Actually, it is the monarch who officially declares war, but this decision is within the authority of the Cabinet of Ministers. Brown is also going to give up and restrict the prime minister's influence on such issues as the ratification of international agreements and the appointment of this or that person to key public positions. On the whole, the authority of Britain's executive may be reduced in 12 areas. Brown's proposals also stipulate that the government should give up its right to identify the framework of parliamentary control over the work of the special services, to outline the personnel policy in the process of selecting candidates for the post of bishops in the Church of England and judges, to regulate spheres of state service, the issue of passports and pardoning. What is more, this is far from being the final extent of constitutional reform, since these issues will be widely discussed by the public.

No special changes

As for foreign policy, Gordon Brown is sure that it is necessary to reform such post-war international organizations as the UN, World Bank, IMF, G8, EU and NATO. They say that the new head of the British cabinet admires America, which is why we have no doubt that strategic partnership with the USA will remain on the front burner for London, as was the case before. Of course, this will apply to both military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a possible conflict with Iran. Without sliding into idealism about the future of the European Union, Britain will definitely remain one of the key countries in a "united Europe", especially after a recent EU summit reached a compromise regarding the simplified constitution of the organization. Experts also see eye-to-eye on there being no special changes in London's relations with former Soviet countries. For example, Britain has long-standing and firm relations with Azerbaijan which are backed up by long-term oil contracts. Moreover, it is necessary to bear in mind that it is the United States that sets the pace in Baku's relations with the West. And London usually follows Washington.