中國(guó)網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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Britain's incoming Prime Minister David Cameron stands in the Cabinet Room inside 10 Downing Street, in London May 11, 2010.(Agencies) |
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Britain's new coalition government cut its own pay by five percent on Thursday in a sign of the tough medicine the country faces to bring down a record budget deficit. The centre-right Conservatives and smaller centrist Liberal Democrats agreed on Tuesday on what critics call an unstable partnership of expedience after an inconclusive election. Reducing Britain's record budget deficit of over 11 percent of national output will be the first test of the relationship. Ministers met around the cabinet table for the first time on Thursday and promptly awarded themselves a pay cut. Prime Minister David Cameron will see his annual salary cut to 142,500 pounds ($210,500) from 150,000, while senior ministers will be paid just under 135,000 pounds -- a very healthy salary in Britain. Ministers' pay will be frozen for the five-year lifetime of the parliament in measures expected to save a total of three million pounds -- a drop in the ocean when weighed against a deficit forecast to reach 163 billion pounds this year. Markets are looking for signs the Conservative-led coalition will act quickly to reduce the deficit by trimming public spending, initially by 6 billion pounds this financial year. "We are all very aware of the seriousness of the situation and frankly if we don't have a credible programme to reduce the deficit...then we won't have the confidence of the markets and the confidence of the country," Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters after the hour-long meeting. The Conservative manifesto contained a pledge to freeze pay for public sector workers next year, excluding the one million lowest paid. The government has promised an emergency budget within 50 days. Cameron said on Wednesday the government had the worst economic inheritance of modern times in Britain. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
英國(guó)新一屆聯(lián)合政府于上周四決定，全體內(nèi)閣成員將集體減薪5%，為削減英國(guó)目前面臨的巨額財(cái)政赤字做點(diǎn)貢獻(xiàn)。 上周二，英國(guó)中右派政黨保守黨與中間派小黨自由民主黨在大選無(wú)果后達(dá)成協(xié)議，組建聯(lián)合政府，此舉被批評(píng)人士稱(chēng)為短期聯(lián)合掌權(quán)的權(quán)宜之計(jì)。 新政府上任后面臨的首個(gè)考驗(yàn)就是削減占全國(guó)總產(chǎn)值比重超過(guò)11%的巨額財(cái)政赤字。 新政府的首次內(nèi)閣會(huì)議于上周四召開(kāi)，并立刻在會(huì)上做出了集體減薪5%的決定。 新任首相大衛(wèi)?卡梅倫的年薪從15萬(wàn)英鎊減至14.25萬(wàn)英鎊（21.05萬(wàn)美元），其他內(nèi)閣大臣的年薪降后將略低于13.5萬(wàn)英鎊，這在英國(guó)已相當(dāng)可觀了。 內(nèi)閣成員的薪資水平在本屆議會(huì)的五年任期內(nèi)將保持不變。這一系列措施預(yù)計(jì)能節(jié)省共300萬(wàn)英鎊的開(kāi)支，但這相對(duì)于今年1630億英鎊的預(yù)測(cè)赤字來(lái)說(shuō)，不過(guò)是九牛一毛。市場(chǎng)期待保守黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟將采取果斷措施，通過(guò)削減公共支出來(lái)減少財(cái)政赤字，本財(cái)政年度計(jì)劃將削減60億英鎊。 當(dāng)天，英國(guó)文化大臣杰里米?亨特在一個(gè)小時(shí)的會(huì)議結(jié)束后告訴記者：“我們都很清楚情況有多嚴(yán)重，坦率地說(shuō)，如果沒(méi)有一個(gè)削減赤字的可靠計(jì)劃，人們會(huì)對(duì)市場(chǎng)和國(guó)家失去信心。” 保守黨還在聲明中承諾將于明年凍結(jié)公共部門(mén)職員的薪資水平，但不包括收入最低的100萬(wàn)人。 政府承諾在未來(lái)50天內(nèi)公布緊急預(yù)算案。卡梅倫于上周三表示，新一屆政府接手的是英國(guó)現(xiàn)代最為糟糕的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國(guó)新首相有新規(guī) 禁止開(kāi)會(huì)打手機(jī) 英保守黨領(lǐng)袖卡梅倫就任首相 發(fā)表講話(huà) 布朗員工打熱線(xiàn)稱(chēng)被粗暴對(duì)待 無(wú)多數(shù)議會(huì) hung parliament （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍） |
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Vocabulary: expedience：a regard for what is politic or advantageous rather than for what is right or just; a sense of self-interest（權(quán)宜，私利） a drop in the ocean：九牛一毛，滄海一粟 |
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