2007年VOA标准英语-Britain's Labour Party Suffers Heavy Losses in

By Tom Rivers
London
05 May 2007

In Britain, results from local elections Thursday show that Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party has suffered big losses, especially in Scotland.  Tom Rivers reports from London that with Mr. Blair likely to leave office soon, the election is grim news for the Labour Party and the person who will take over after Mr. Blair. 

Britain's Labour Party suffers heavy losses especially in Scotland

Next week, Prime Minister Tony Blair says he will announce his departure date from 10 Downing Street.  From the results of local elections, the person who succeeds Mr. Blair will be leading a greatly reduced Labour Party.

In England, Wales and Scotland, Labour has lost 500 local seats.  Labour's losses in Scotland were particularly devastating¹.

For the first time in more than 50 years, Labour party dominance has gone. The big winner is the pro-independence Scottish National Party.

The SNP claimed 47 seats in the Scottish parliament to Labour's 46.

Informal discussions between the SNP and the Liberal Democrats³ are already under way to form a coalition⁴ government in the Scottish parliament.

But as SNP leader Alex Salmond told his colleagues, that will not be easy.

"Most of us have grasped the fact that you have to build a coalition in the Scots parliament and that is going to take some time, some effort," he said.

The Scottish parliament has full control of some areas, like education policy, but not all. Defense⁵ policy, for instance, is still determined⁶ by the British parliament in London.

The SNP, however, has been pushing for a referendum on complete independence that it hopes to put before the country in three years.

But that is something their potential coalition partners, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, do not agree with. Nichol Stephens is their leader.

"The Liberal Democrat² position is absolutely clear on this issue," he noted⁷.  "We do not support independence.  We want to see more powers for the Scottish parliament, but not independence and not a referendum on independence."

Viewed more broadly, the results throughout England, Wales and Scotland signal a tough time for Labour, and Tony Blair's apparent successor, Finance Minister Gordon Brown.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。