Kinnock and the Referendums Act,
August 1993
Holding the advantage of incumbency and the right to form a government first, Prime Minister Kinnock decided to seize the moment to lock Howard and the Conservatives out of Number Ten, and promptly invited Paddy Ashdown for formal Coalition talks. Successfully gambling that Labour MP's would not revolt in order to remain in government and that Ashdown - weakened by his own scandal and poor result - would be unable to make excessive demands, Kinnock successfully closed a difficult deal with the SLD, secured support from the SDLP and brought the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru with a bold devolution offer, all part of his gamble to survive the political deadlock caused by Maastricht.
Faced with the threat of a second election (and further loses) and after Labour made extra concessions on environmental matters the Green blinked first on the Queen's Speech, allowing Kinnock to successfully survive the vote with their abstention. Now Prime Minister of an unwieldy Coalition minority government (with Ashdown as his Deputy PM), with the deadline for Maastricht fast approaching and a Eurosceptic majority in the House of Commons Kinnock resolved to press ahead with the ultimate gamble to save his government: the Referendums Act. Aimed not only at ending the Maastricht deadlock but also to consolidate the support of the Welsh and Scottish nationalists, the bill would allow for three separate referendums to be held at the end of the year:
-A Referendum in Scotland and one in Wales regarding devolution and the creation of a Scottish/Welsh Parliament
-A UK-Wide Referendum on whether to ratify the Maastricht Treaty
Pushing the bill as quickly as possible through a heated debate the decisive vote came at the end of August. Would Kinnock win the vote and then fight through the Referendums, or would the government face defeat and possible collapse?
(OOC: Haven't had time to update
The Duel this month, but it's back.)
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