美国国家公共电台 NPR--Britain's prime minister is on shaky ground after her economic plan is rejected

Britain's prime minister is on shaky ground after her economic plan is rejected

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Rainbow Murray, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, about the economic and political upheaval² in the U.K., and the future of Prime Minister Liz Truss.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Liz Truss is in some political trouble. The new British prime minister has been on the job for less than two months and already there are suggestions that her tenure³ could be cut short. Her new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, just pulled the plug on Truss' budget, which included major tax cuts and deregulation. Rainbow Murray joins us now. She's a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. Thank you so much for being with us.

RAINBOW MURRAY: Pleasure.

MARTIN: The new finance minister basically changed everything about the prime minister's whole economic plan yesterday. And he's the guy that she handpicked for the job. How does that happen?

MURRAY: Her predecessor⁴ did everything that she asked of him. He introduced radical⁵ tax cuts. He promised big increases in spending. But it was completely untenable because they pretended they had a money tree. And of course, no such thing exists. The markets realized it wasn't possible. The pound plummeted⁶. Borrowing costs soared. The prime minister realized that she created a disaster. And so she had to sack the person who'd done her bidding and appoint someone else who was willing to tear up everything that she'd promised and start over again, which was deeply humiliating for her.

MARTIN: So what does that mean on a practical level - first, just for Brits who are living through this?

MURRAY: For Brits, it means all the tax cuts that were promised have now been taken away. We were promised two years of support with energy bills. That's now been reduced to six months. And we've been told that the next step is that public services are going to be cut. So we've been told - we've gone from being told that there was a money tree that could pay for everything to being told that there is no money and we have to cut spending on everything. But at least British people now feel that we're being told the truth. And the markets are starting to stabilize⁷ because the pessimistic scenario⁸ is actually the realistic one.

MARTIN: In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Liz Truss apologized for making mistakes but insisted that she is not stepping down. How much control does she have over her own future?

MURRAY: She has very little. She's lost the entirety of her credibility. And apology isn't sufficient because she has undermined confidence in the government. And there are also lasting⁹ legacies¹⁰ of what has happened, such as an increase in borrowing costs, which has a huge impact on anyone who has to repay a mortgage in the U.K. So people don't respect her. They don't trust her. And the government is now effectively being run by a chancellor¹¹ who is going against the very program that the prime minister stood on. So the only thing really keeping her in office is a lack of alternatives. And I think if her party managed to coalesce¹² around an alternative, they may well try to oust¹³ her before the next election.

MARTIN: I mean, these missteps, though - someone in her close circle of advisers¹⁴ had to have been warning her of the consequences of this. Did she just discount that guidance?

MURRAY: Yes, that was the tragedy. There were plenty of warnings. There were warnings all over the place. And she refused to listen to them and was absolutely convinced that her way was the right way, and that she would be proved right over the course of time as her policies paid off. But the problem was that so many people didn't believe them that she wasn't given the opportunity of time to test them because they had an instant negative effect, at which point she was effectively forced to turn around and change direction.

MARTIN: So what is the next step here? I mean, are there rumblings of a list of alternatives for prime minister?

MURRAY: There's certainly desire for it within the party. But there's also an awareness¹⁶ that we've had several changes of prime minister in recent years, and another leadership election would be disastrous¹⁷. So I think there will only be a change at the helm if they can unite around a unity¹⁵ candidate without another leadership contest. And unity is something that has been hard to find in the Conservative Party in recent years.

MARTIN: Rainbow Murray, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London. We appreciate your perspective and context. Thanks.

MURRAY: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

3 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

4 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

8 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

10 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

11 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

12 coalesce   

v.联合，结合，合并

参考例句：

• And these rings of gas would then eventually coalesce and form the planets.这些气体环最后终于凝结形成行星。
• They will probably collide again and again until they coalesce.他们可能会一次又一次地发生碰撞，直到他们合并。

13 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

14 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

16 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

17 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。