Full text of British coalition agreement and video of Cameron and Clegg news conference

Minutes before British Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg held a banter-filled, joint news conference at Downing Street on Wednesday, the full text of the coalition agreement between their two parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, was published online.

The complete text is embedded below. It can also be downloaded from the Web site of the Conservative Party, where it is described this way:

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have released a document setting out the agreements reached between the two parties on a range of issues. These are the issues that needed to be resolved between us in order for us to work together as a strong and stable government.

It will be followed in due course by a final Coalition Agreement, covering the full range of policy and including foreign, defence and domestic policy issues not covered in this document.

The comic nature of some of the exchanges between the two leaders (which can be seen in the video embedded above) was much-commented-on by reporters watching the event. One, James Kirkup of the Daily Telegraph, remarked on Twitter:

Oh god. The country is now being run by two characters from a Richard Curtis film.

Dave and Nick: extras from Four Weddings, only with executive authority over a nuclear-armed G8 power.

Click here to read the full British Coalition Government Agreement.

(Published by The New York Times – May 12, 2010)