Political Parties Must Work Together, Says Evangelical Alliance
LONDON – The head of the Evangelical Alliance has called on Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg to work together after Thursday's General Election resulted in a hung parliament.
The Evangelical Alliance's General Director Steve Clifford said there was a need for Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems to show a willingness to work together to ensure that there was clear political leadership in the coming months.
"This indecisive result could lead to political instability, but it could also be the beginning of a new political era," he said.
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"The last thing this country needs is weeks of internal partisan wrangling. Why don't the party leaders show that there is a better way, one that reflects the reason so many came into politics – to go beyond petty rivalries and work together to serve the people they have now been elected to represent."
The Tories were the clear winners of the General Election, but its 306 seats were 20 short of the number required to win an overall majority. Labour followed with 258 while the Lib Dems fell well behind with only 57.
While Gordon Brown remains Prime Minister, the Lib Dems are considering a power-sharing offer from the Tories. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has reiterated that electoral reform will be crucial to any deal with the Conservatives and has offered to enter talks with Labour if negotiations with the Conservatives fail.
Reports in the papers today suggest that the Lib Dems are reconsidering working with the Labour Party after Brown supposedly launched a "rant" at Nick Clegg during a telephone call.
The finance sector is urging the party leaders to reach agreement sooner rather than later in order to start tackling Britain's huge deficit.
They warn that prolonged horse-trading by the main parties will jeopardise the economy after the FTSE 100 plummeted following Thursday's result.
As financial leaders urged the parties to put the nation's economy first in their negotiations, Mr Clifford urged them not to sideline those who depend on public services.
He said: "Our economy is still fragile and our national debt is colossal, and I think that we realise difficult decisions will have to be made and the level of public services we are used to may not be sustainable.
"But in taking these difficult decisions I ask that whatever form the Government takes they remember what was asked of the apostle Paul, to remember the poor."
