TIG Post

Tag: Liz Truss

  • Liz Truss earned £15,770 per hour doing side jobs

    Liz Truss earned £15,770 per hour doing side jobs

    While still serving as an MP, Liz Truss made an average of £15,770 per hour working side jobs, according to an inquiry.

    Apparently, MPs are being paid an average of £233 per hour to work second jobs rather than represent their people, which is roughly 17 times the average national pay, according to a new report by Sky News that was released on Friday.

    The investigation discovered that Ms. Truss, who served as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister when she quit after only 49 days, has since become Westminster’s top hourly earner, with the majority of her income coming from making a single speech in Taiwan, which brought in more than £90,000.

    Even higher than Ms Truss is her predecessor as PM Boris Johnson, who resigned as an MPin disgrace last month and earned over £6.4 million while in parliament, averaging an hourly rate of £21,822.

    AUSTIN, TEXAS - MAY 23: Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson listens during a tour after a meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott at the Texas State Capitol on May 23, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Gov. Abbott met with Johnson to discuss economic development. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
    Boris Johnson earned even more before he resigned as an MP last month, earning over £6.4 million while in parliment (Picture: Getty)

    Of the 10 MPs with the highest hourly rate, nine are Conservatives and one, Ian Blackford, is an SNP politician. 

    Also high up the list is Labour leader Keir Starmer, who despite calling for a ban on MPs holding second jobs has received over £800,000 in extra-parliamentary income since joining parliament in 2015, averaging an hourly rate of around £360.

    The Westminster Accounts project, produced in collaboration between Sky News and Tortoise Media, has examined the data that MPs provide on the amount of time they have worked on second jobs in this parliament.

    The MP registering the most hours in the private sector is former attorney general and MP for West Devon Sir Geoffrey Cox, who put the tally at 2,565.

    Dr Dan Poulter, a Conservative MP and NHS hospital doctor, has worked the most hours in a non-political job since the 2019 election. He has worked 3,508 hours in mental health services.

    Sinn Fein MP John Finucane, who runs a toner company, is the highest non-conservative on the list, while Labour MPs Dan Jarvis and Tahir Ali have the most hours logged from their respective party, with around 1750 hours each.

    Asked about Rishi Sunak’s views on the findings at a briefing today, a No10 spokesman said: ‘He has said previously that it is right that constituents expect MPs’ focus should be on serving their constituencies.

    ‘It is their constituents who will decide if they are doing a good job.’ 

    But Tory MP and chair of the health select committee, Steve Brine, accused Westminster Accounts of ‘smearing’ politicians.

    Mr Brine, who has worked 497 hours in second jobs this parliament on an average of £200 per hour, told Sky News: ‘I’m focused on my constituents, I focus on chairing my select committee and I always have [been].

    ‘I think you should be very careful about smearing MPs and making out that MPs are not focusing on their jobs – 99.9% of MPs I’ve met in Westminster are focused on doing their job and doing the right thing.

    ‘Be very careful before you run our profession into the ground.’

    Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford- who earned over £38,000 for 31 hours work in this parliament – told the channel there was a ‘legitimate debate’ to be had about MPs’ outside earnings.

    ‘I think it is important the public can have trust in those they send to parliament’ said Mr Blackford, who admitted to holding two two non-executive jobs but said he left the roles ‘very, very early in this parliament.’

    ‘You have obviously seen the likes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss earn eye watering sums of money on the speaking circuit, benefiting from the position that they had as prime minister, and I think rightly people are appalled at that kind of behaviour.

    ‘I think it is important that we can trust our politicians and I think people have to look very carefully at what they do.’

  • Liz Truss finally speaks after being compared to lettuce

    Liz Truss finally speaks after being compared to lettuce

    Liz Truss has at last addressed the iconic lettuce that survived her, and ironically, she is not pleased.

    On October 20, 2022, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history announced his resignation following a turbulent tenure.

    In a light-hearted “Liz vs. Lettuce” competition, the Daily Star newspaper established a live feed and asked which would last the longest.

    ‘How long can wet lettuce Liz romaine?’ it inquired on the lead page. and attracted much interest on a global scale.

    And against all the odds, the lettuce came through victorious.

    At the News XChange journalism conference today in Dublin, Ireland, Ms Truss said some elements of the media are ‘froth’.

    Addressing the stunt, she said: ‘I don’t think that’s particularly funny I just think it’s puerile.’

    Hitting out at the media further, she added: ‘I think that the British media are known throughout the world for being particularly vociferous and I don’t think they are particularly deferential to politicians.

    ‘It’s frustrating because I came into politics because I wanted to change the country, I want to push particular ideas, and it is frustrating when you get diverted onto a discussion of what hat you’re wearing, or whether you like photographs, all this other stuff, rather than one of the crucial issues that are affecting Britain, Europe, Ireland and the US.

    ‘I do think sometimes politics is sort of treated as a branch of the entertainment industry.

    ‘Who’s up, who’s down, who says what about who – it’s a bit playground when there are really serious issues going on.’

    She said when she attended international summits she would get ‘a lot of sympathy’ from politicians abroad about the way she was treated.

    Ms Truss added although ‘robust debate’ is ‘a good thing overall’, she thinks following politicians around and ‘shouting things at them is not really journalism’.

    She was also asked whether she tries to dress like Baroness Margaret Thatcher, to which she responded: ‘I just think, frankly, it’s lazy thinking on people’s part. It’s not something I have ever consciously sought to do at all.’

    People like to compare female UK prime ministers because ‘there aren’t that many of us’, she added, with the third being Theresa May.

  • Boris Johnson’s name will go down  in history, but not for the reasons he desires

    Boris Johnson’s name will go down  in history, but not for the reasons he desires

    Boris Johnson became Britain’s prime minister in the summer of 2019, becoming the highest-profile person to do so since his idol, wartime commander Sir Winston Churchill, began his second term as PM in 1951.

    Johnson was nothing short of a colossus. A popular columnist, a television star, a celebrated author. For decades, his carefully honed media persona – part pseudo-intellectual; part loveable-but-out-of-touch-poshboy – won Johnson fans beyond the traditional Conservative base. For years, he was the most electorally successful Conservative in the country, serving as Mayor of London – a liberal city where the Conservatives typically struggle.

    As mayor, he gained a global reputation, appearing at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics; going on US talk shows as a guest; taking center stage at the London Olympics in 2012; being the human embodiment of Brexit – an earthquake in global politics and economics.

    However, he leaves frontline politics a diminished figure who, for now, seems to have lost all the big arguments and is no longer in control of his legacy.

    His previous fame and electoral success could not protect him from crashing down to earth as the final months of his premiership became dogged in scandals so severe that his position eventually became untenable.

    Those scandals have been covered extensively in the international media. From Partygate, in which Johnson became the first sitting prime minister to be issued with a police fine, to his deputy chief whip resigning after allegedly groping someone, Johnson’s spent his last few weeks in office clinging desperately to power.

    What might be less well-known outside of the UK is what happened next. For all that Johnson’s supporters agitated for his return when his successor Liz Truss was forced to resign, when push came to shove, his own party thought he was damaged goods and blocked any return to the throne.

    Since then, it’s only been his most loyal footsoldiers that have continued banging the Johnson drum.

    When Johnson gave evidence to a parliamentary committee – with a Conservative majority – investigating whether or not he deliberately misled parliament over Partygate, you could count his supporters in the room on one hand. They muttered and tutted at others in the room as Johnson was grilled for hours, but they represented a minority view of the people that once supported Johnson whole-heartedly.

    That same day, Johnson’s dwindling influence was further underscored as he led a futile rebellion against Sunak’s new Brexit deal, something Johnson has publicly criticized. Orthodox thinking in the Conservative party now is that Sunak has saved Brexit from being a total disaster and that Johnson looks slightly ridiculous protesting Sunak’s strategy.

    It is in this context that Johnson’s resignation statement should be read.

    He discredits the inquiry into Partygate, saying “they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament. They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.”

    He attacks Sunak’s approach to Brexit: “Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do. We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit … We must not be afraid to be a properly Conservative government.”

    And he reminds everyone reading of the monumental battles he won at the ballot box: “We need to deliver on the 2019 manifesto, which was endorsed by 14 million people. We should remember that more than 17 million voted for Brexit.”

    Johnson is a man with a keen sense of history and desperately wants his name to go down as one of the most important in Britain’s.

    A little over a year ago, there was no reason why it wouldn’t. He had not only delivered Brexit in 2016, but saved it in 2019 when he took over as PM, negotiated a new deal with the EU – at the time considered impossible – and called an election at which he won an 80-seat parliamentary majority.

    He nearly died during the Covid-19 pandemic, but recovered and led one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world. His steadfast defense of Ukraine has won him such adoration in that country that streets in the capital Kyiv have been renamed in his honor.

    But all of those things may have been overshadowed.

    Brexit, his personal victory, is now tarnished. Not only do the majority of Brits now consider it to have been a mistake, it was his nemesis Sunak who received praise from none other than US President Joe Biden for fixing the problems Johnson’s deal created with Northern Ireland.

    His legacy when it comes to Covid won’t be the vaccine rollout, but Partygate. And the longer the war in Ukraine rolls on, the more apparent it becomes that the first land war in Europe in decades simply isn’t primarily about Boris Johnson.

    The final indignity for a man who prides himself on his popularity would have been defeat at an election. Johnson and his allies can now forever write an alternative reality, where he either remained in power or came back and won the next general election.

    By resigning, he has spared himself that fate. And living in denial might be the kindest thing that Johnson could possibly have done for himself and his legacy.

  • Liz Truss allegedly attempted to recruit friends to the UK House of Lords

    Liz Truss allegedly attempted to recruit friends to the UK House of Lords

    Liz Truss has come under fire for allegedly recommending four close friends for peerages as part of her resignation honours in an effort to reward failure.

    The 49 days Ms. Truss spent in Downing Street made her the prime minister with the shortest tenure in British political history. She left No. 10 after her September mini-budget measures helped drive the pound’s value down.

    Yet, she has continued to nominate former aides and allies for a place in the House of Lords as part of the honours a prime minister might suggest after their retirement despite being humiliated.

    Her four nominations equals roughly one peerage for every ten days she was in office, and both Labour and Lib Dem MPs have called on her successor Rishi Sunak to block the nominations.

    Ruth Porter, former special adviser to Britain's newly appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss waits outside 10 Downing Street for the arrival of the new Prime Minister in central London, on September 6, 2022. - Liz Truss on Tuesday officially became Britain's new prime minister, at an audience with head of state Queen Elizabeth II after the resignation of Boris Johnson. The former foreign secretary, 47, was seen in an official photograph shaking hands with the monarch to accept her offer to form a new government and become the 15th prime minister of her 70-year reign. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP) (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty Images)
    Ruth Porter headed Ms Truss’s leadership campaig and was briefly her deputy chief of staff (Picture: Getty)
    Matthew Elliott - Chief Executive, Taxpayers Alliance ....
    Matthew Elliott was a Brexit campigner who headed the Vote Leave campaign

    Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner called it a ‘list of shame’, coming after she said Ms Truss ‘and her Conservative co-conspirators’ had taken a ‘wrecking ball to the economy’.

    According to The Sun and the i newspapers, former Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott, Conservative Party donor Jon Moynihan, long-term aide Ruth Porter and think tank boss Mark Littlewood have all allegedly been recommended for peerages by the former Tory leader.

    Mr Littlewood is director of the free market-supporting think tank Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

    The group backed the disastrous mini-budget unveiled by Ms Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, with Mr Littlewood, according to The Guardian, calling it a ‘boost-up budget’.

    Upon her resignation, Mr Littlewood said: ‘I’m very sorry the PM’s efforts to move the UK in a pro-growth, low-tax, pro-enterprise direction has failed.

    ‘She had a difficult hand to play, but she also played the hand badly.’

    He also served as chief press spokesman for the Lib Dems and reportedly was at Oxford University with Ms Truss.

    Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs
    Mark Littlewood is director of a conservative think tank and attended Oxford University with Liz Truss
    Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX (9693298e) Prince Charles with Jon Moynihan OBE. 'Platinum' Israel 70th Independence Celebrations, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK - 24 May 2018
    Jon Moynihan (R) is a Tory donor who gave £50,000 to Ms Truss’s leadership campaign

    Ms Porter currently works for a lobbying firm but helped spearhead Ms Truss’s successful Tory leadership bid in the summer before briefly serving as her deputy chief of staff in No 10.

    The register of MPs’ financial interests shows that Mr Moynihan donated, in two separate transactions, more than £50,000 to Ms Truss’s leadership campaign.

    Mr Elliott, as well as campaigning for Brexit, was also involved in founding the Taxpayers’ Alliance group which lobbies for lower taxes.

    Ms Rayner said: ‘Liz Truss and her Conservative co-conspirators took a wrecking ball to the economy in a disastrous six-week premiership that has left millions facing mortgage misery, but Rishi Sunak now looks set to allow her to hand out these obscene rewards for failure.

    ‘If this Prime Minister was serious about the integrity he promised, he would be point blank refusing to rubber stamp Liz Truss’s list of shame.

    ‘Instead of approving undeserved honours and lifetime golden goodbyes for her cheerleaders, he should be demanding the public apology she has refused to provide.’

    Wendy Chamberlain MP, the Lib Dems’ chief whip, said: ‘Handing out more expensive gongs to Conservative allies is a truly remarkable way to reward the shortest tenure as prime minister in British political history.

    Labour deputy Angela Rayner labelled the nominations a ‘list of shame’ (Picture: Getty)

    ‘Truss and her Conservative colleagues trashed our economy and left millions in misery.

    ‘Those selected for honours are the very people who helped plunge the country into chaos and crisis.

    ‘Rishi Sunak must block these honours immediately as allowing Truss to dish out positions of influence shows a stunning lack of humility.’

    A spokesman for Ms Truss said he could not comment on who any individuals on the nomination list were.

  • Kwasi Kwarteng: We ‘Blew it’ up because got ‘carried away’ by economic reforms – Ex UK Chancellor admits

    Liz Truss resigned after just 44 days as a result of the Tory MP’s mini-budget statement, which caused one of the most turbulent economic periods in modern history.

    Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has accepted that he and Liz Truss “blew it” by instituting extensive economic reforms and “got carried away.”

    The Conservative MP called their low-tax, small-state plans “very exciting” and said he fully supported them, but he also acknowledged that the way they were carried out was their downfall.

    The markets crashed after Mr. Kwarteng announced his “mini” budget just 17 days after Ms. Truss appointed him chancellor, forcing him to resign before Ms. Truss was also forced to resign.

    “It was very exciting, you felt you were part of a project,” he told the FT Weekend Magazine.

    As soon as she became PM, Ms Truss said she did not want any opinion polling as she felt politicians were obsessed with “optics”.

    Despite advisers warning her and Mr Kwarteng that their plans would be seen as a “budget for the rich”, they were ignored.

    Mr Kwarteng added: “People got carried away, myself included. There was no tactical subtlety whatsoever.”

    He still believes the goal was correct but admitted: “Where we fell woefully short was to have a tactical plan.”

    As the economic turmoil continued, despite the government U-turning on some of the recently announced policies, Mr Kwarteng went to IMF meetings in Washington as he did not want to cause more panic by not attending.

    But he was called back early after, he and his allies believe, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case managed to persuade Ms Truss she had to reverse some of the measures to avoid economic ruin.

    When Ms Truss told him he could no longer be chancellor on 14 October, he says he told her: “I know, I’ve seen it on Twitter.”

    Mr Kwarteng said he warned her he was a “firebreak” and getting rid of him would “make her weaker, not stronger”.

    “She said she was doing this to save her premiership,” he told the FT.

    Last month, Mr Kwarteng said he and Ms Truss are still “friends”.

    But, he added: “My biggest regret is we weren’t tactically astute and we were too impatient.

    “There was a brief moment and the people in charge, myself included, blew it.”

     

     

  • Boris Johnson blasts net zero ‘naysayers’ who want to ‘frack the hell out of the British countryside’ in appearance at COP27

    Boris Johnson referred to himself as “the spirit of Glasgow COP26,” calling for the legacy of last year’s climate summit, which was held in the UK, to be “taken forward” as a “joint global endeavor.”

    In his first appearance at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, Boris Johnson slammed net zero “naysayers” who want to “frack the hell out of the British countryside.”

    On the first day of the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, the former prime minister said the fight against climate change had become a “collateral victim” of the Ukraine war, causing “naysayers to adopt a corrosive cynicism about net zero.”

    In a swipe at other Conservatives – including his successor Liz Truss who had planned to lift the ban on fracking in England – Mr Johnson declared that it is “not the moment to ban the campaign for net zero” despite the ongoing energy crisis.

    Returning to the international stage, he also warned that countries “should not be lurching back to an addiction or a dependence on hydrocarbons” if they wish to keep global warming to 1.5C, adding: “The solution is to move ahead with a green approach.”

    Mr Johnson said nations must join together to “tackle this nonsense head on”.

    “This is not the moment to give in to Putin’s energy blackmail,” the former PM told the audience.

    “Yes, of course, we do need to use hydrocarbons in the transitional period and, yes, in the UK there is more that we can do with our own domestic resources.

    “However, this is not the moment to abandon the campaign for net zero, this is not the moment to turn our backs on renewable technology.”

    Mr Johnson also seemed to reject calls for climate reparations – sometimes referred to as “loss and damage” payments – which is a policy widely expected to dominate talks in Egypt.

    “Let’s look to the future, to trigger private sector involvement, I’d much rather look at what we can do now to help countries going forward,” he said.

    ‘I am here as a footsoldier’

    Describing himself as “the spirit of Glasgow COP26”, the former prime minister called for the legacy of last year’s climate summit hosted in the UK to be “taken forward” as a “joint global endeavour”.

    “Glasgow was a big moment, I want to see that legacy, it’s crucial the steering wheel is yanked back a bit to tackling climate change, clean green solutions to achieve net zero, that’s what I’m here to do,” he said.

    “We have got to end the defeatism, end Putin’s energy blackmail, keep up our campaign to end global dependence on hydrocarbons and keep 1.5C alive.”

    Probed on why he confirmed his attendance at COP27 before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had, Mr Johnson replied: “I am here as a footsoldier and a spear carrier of the Conservatives… I am here in a purely supportive role and to remind people of the work we did in Glasgow which I think was fantastic.”

    Last week, Mr Sunak reversed his decision to skip the COP27 climate, bowing to pressure from environmental campaigners and MPs.

    PM arrives for COP27 in Egypt

    ‘Glad PM is here’

    Having originally said he would not attend due to “other pressing domestic commitments” back home – including preparing for the autumn statement on November 17 – Mr Sunak changed his position on Thursday, saying there is “no long-term prosperity without action on climate change”.

    Asked if he was concerned when Mr Sunak’s position was not to attend the climate conference, Mr Johnson added: “Look, the PM is here and I am glad he is here. He has made an outstanding speech the other day and I think he is on the right line.”

    Mr Johnson added that he supports what the government is doing back in the UK to help people facing rising bills.

    “In the short term of course you have to abate the cost, the impact for those who are feeling it – and that is why I support what the government is doing, what Rishi is doing, to help people through tough times,” he said.

    ‘People are struggling’

    But he reiterated his view that now is not the time for people to “go weak and wobbly on net zero”

    “People are struggling, people are hurting, they can feel the impact of the spike in energy prices. The answer is not to renew our addition to hydrocarbons, it’s to accelerate the adoption of green solutions,” Mr Johnson said.

    Ahead of the US midterm elections this week, Mr Johnson also noted that “it is very important for the rest of the world that America stays with the programme on climate change”.

    ather around the world, the former PM suggested that soaring temperatures back in July in the UK may have influenced the “unexpected political turmoil” in Westminster which saw him being ousted from Number 10.

    “Temperatures in London reached 40 degrees, which is unprecedented and unbearable, perhaps even contributing who knows to unexpected political turmoil that we saw in Westminster at that time,” he said.

    World leaders are attending the latest UN climate talks in Egypt amid tensions over who will pay for the damage caused by global warming.

    US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are among those others at the event.

    The climate summit will end on Friday 18 November.

  • COP27: Rishi Sunak rebuffs predecessor Liz Truss with vow to get UK off polluting fossil fuels

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sworn to get the UK off polluting fossil fuels and on to more clean power in order to secure energy supplies, bucking claims by his predecessor Liz Truss that oil and gas expansion was vital.

    Addressing world leaders at COP27 in Egypt on Monday, Mr Sunak will argue the “shock” to global energy markets triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscores the need to move to cheaper, cleaner, safer energy sources.

    Amid domestic economic woes, the PM had declined the invite to the biggest climate summit of the year.

    But this week, Mr Sunak made a dramatic U-turn following intense criticism he was missing an environmental and geopolitical opportunity.

    In a statement before his departure on Sunday for Sharm El-Sheikh on the Red Sea, Mr Sunak said fighting climate change is not just a “moral good” but “fundamental to our future prosperity and security”.

    “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.

    Number 10 will hope the promise to make the UK a “clean energy superpower” smooths the way for negotiations at COP27, where almost 200 countries must each bring something to the table in the expectation others do the same.

    Source: Sky News

  • Boris Johnson had the numbers to challenge Sunak says Sir Graham Brady

    Sir Graham Brady appears to have confirmed Boris Johnson’s claim that he had enough MPs to challenge Rishi Sunak in the leadership election last month.

    Mr Johnson dropped out of the Tory leadership race, claiming he had the necessary nominations but was unable to unite the party.

    Sir Graham, chair of the Tory party’s 1922 Committee, told the BBC that “two candidates” had reached the threshold, and “one of them decided not to then submit his nomination.”

    Sir Graham also spoke about his experiences meeting with former PMs Liz Truss and Mr Johnson at separate stages this year to tell them they no longer commanded majority support from their MPs.

    “I was reaching for my phone when I got a message saying the prime minister had asked to see me,” the Altrincham and Sale West MP told  BBC North West Tonight.

    “When I went in to see her with her chief of staff Mark Fullbrook, she asked me the question – she said ‘it’s pretty bad, isn’t it?’ To which I replied ‘yes, it is pretty bad’”.

    “She asked the second question, ‘do you think it’s retrievable?’. And I said ‘no, I don’t think it is’. And she replied that she didn’t either.”

    He said Mr Johnson had insisted he was “still determined to go on”,  but changed his mind overnight.

    After Mr Sunak was made PM uncontested, Mr Johnson tweeted: “Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on this historic day, this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support.”

    The former premier offered his congratulations a day later than messages from outgoing PM Ms Truss and Mr Sunak’s fellow leadership hopeful, Penny Mordaunt

  • Briefings about the ‘tough’ tax rises to come show Sunak’s awareness of where Truss went wrong

    When Liz Truss unveiled the now infamous mini-budget, even her cabinet colleagues didn’t know what was coming. Rishi Sunak is taking no such risks.

    Late last night, the Treasury issued a briefing to friendly newspapers – seen by Sky News – setting out the “eyewatering” scale of the fiscal black hole, which means “everyone” will need to pay more tax.

    Following a meeting between the prime minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to discuss the Autumn Statement on 17 November, they “agreed that tough decisions are needed on tax rises, as well as on spending”, the Treasury stated.

    A Treasury source said: “It is going to be rough. The truth is that everybody will need to contribute more in taxes if we are to maintain public services.

    “After borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds through COVID-19 and implementing massive energy bill support, we won’t be able to fill the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone.”

    They also briefed that while there will be pain all around, those with the broadest shoulders will bear the highest burden – something former chancellor George Osborne, the architect of austerity, also used to say.

    It’s expected income tax thresholds will be frozen – dragging tens of thousands more people into the 20p and 40p tax rates in the coming years, and the windfall tax could be extended.

    But day-to-day spending is also expected to be squeezed, with the possible exceptions of the NHS and defense, on departments already struggling with inflation.

    Some in government say they expect Mr Sunak to raise benefits by inflation as promised in a signal of fairness to the most vulnerable, but no decisions have been made yet.

    This is rolling the pitch – preparing the public and MPs for grim news and setting out priorities.

    It allows interest groups within his party, and external groups and charities, to make their cases in advance and hopefully avoid some of the worst pitfalls.

    But it’s a high-wire act – the last time spending was squeezed like this, under the austerity drive of David Cameron and George Osborne from 2010, they had years to craft a narrative around it.

    This time, Rishi Sunak made clear on the steps of Downing Street that a lot of the economic damage is self-inflicted by his predecessor Liz Truss and her failure to balance the books, although borrowing to tackle COVID is a key driver too.

    Many voters who turned to the Conservatives for the first time in 2019 will have heard Boris Johnson saying austerity was over, indeed that he had always thought it was “just not the right way forward for the UK”.

    The PM does not have long to craft a case that it is now time for everyone to tighten their belts – and to try and ensure the balance looks fair.

    Source: Skynews.com

     

  • Braverman admits to mailing government information to personal email six times

    Suella Braverman has written to the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee to explain how she sent government information to a backbench MP.

    This action prompted Ms Braverman to resign as home secretary, only to be reappointed six days later (last week, upon Rishi Sunak, becoming PM).

    Ms Braverman also admitted to sending work emails to her personal address on six occasions, in violation of the ministerial code.

    In the letter, Ms Braverman says the information related to a written ministerial statement outlining immigration policy.

    She says the information would “outline the government’s position” – and allow the OBR to incorporate the position into their forecasts.

    The information was sent to Tory MP Sir John Hayes, with Ms Braverman saying she “intended to copy his secretary’s parliamentary email address” but she put the wrong email in. The information instead went to the secretary of a different MP.

    According to Ms Braverman,

    Suella Braverman has written to the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee to explain how she sent government information to a backbench MP.

    This action prompted Ms Braverman to resign as home secretary, only to be reappointed six days later (last week, upon Rishi Sunak becoming PM).

    Ms Braverman also admitted to sending work emails to her personal address on six occasions, in violation of the ministerial code.

    had “specifically requested” that the policy be discussed with “parliamentary colleagues”.

    The home secretary also gave her a timeline of events as she saw them on the day in question.

    She said it started with getting up at 4 am to go on a police raid, before travelling two hours by car to the Home Office.

    It was during this journey that Ms Braverman sent the email in question from her personal phone as she did not have her work phone with her.

    Following a morning of meetings, Ms Braverman says when she realised she had sent the email to a staffer of MP Andrew Percy by accident, she “decided to inform my officials as soon as practicable”.

    But before informing the civil service, Ms Braverman bumped into the chief whip and Mr Percy – a meeting during which Mr Percy raised his concerns.

    After this meeting, Ms Braverman asked a special adviser to tell the private secretary what happened.

     

  • Liz Truss phone hack claim prompts calls for investigation

    The government has been urged to investigate the claims that former prime minister Liz Truss’s phone was hacked while she was foreign secretary.

    The Mail on Sunday reported private messages between Ms Truss and foreign officials, including about the Ukraine war, fell into foreign hands.

    The hack was discovered during the summer Tory leadership campaign but the news was suppressed, the paper said.

    The government said it had “robust” cyber-threat protection in place.

    The spokesperson added that the government “did not comment on individuals’ security arrangements”.

    Details about the hack were suppressed by then-prime minister Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, The Mail on Sunday claimed, citing what it said amounted to a “news blackout” imposed by Mr Case.

    The newspaper also said private messages exchanged between Ms Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, her close friend whom she made chancellor when she became prime minister, were also uncovered by the alleged hack.

    It is not clear how any hack happened, but opposition parties have seized on the issue.

    “There are immensely important national security issues raised by an attack like this by a hostile state which will have been taken extremely seriously by our intelligence and security agencies,” said shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper.

    “There are also serious security questions around why and how this information has been leaked or released right now which must also be urgently investigated.”

    The Mail on Sunday reported agents suspected of working for Russia had been responsible for the alleged hacking, citing unnamed sources, but the BBC has not been able to verify this.

    The Liberal Democrat’s foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP raised concerns about why the alleged hack had not been made public earlier.

    “We need an urgent independent investigation to uncover the truth,” Ms Moran said. “If it turns out this information was withheld from the public to protect Liz Truss’s leadership bid, that would be unforgivable.”

    The government has refused to comment on any of the details reported by the Mail on Sunday.

    “The government has robust systems to protect against cyber threats,” a spokesman said. “That includes regular security briefings for ministers and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats.”

    Source: BBB.com 

  • No 10 Downing street: Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron vow to co-operate on Channel crossings

    Downing Street announced that the UK and France will step up cooperation to combat migrant crossings in the English Channel.

    Rishi Sunak spoke with President Emmanuel Macron for the first time as Prime Minister on Friday.

    According to No. 10, the two men expressed a commitment to “deepening” their work to prevent “deadly journeys.”

    A statement from the Elysée Palace after the call made no specific mention of migrant boats.

    There have already been promises to deepen cooperation earlier in October after then-Prime Minister Liz Truss met with Mr Macron in Prague earlier this month.

    The pair pledged an “ambitious package of measures” to be announced this autumn.

    Downing Street has refused to give details on any future plans or when an announcement will be made.

    But Mr Sunak is said to have “stressed the importance for both nations to make the Channel route completely unviable for people traffickers”.

    In 2021, the UK agreed to pay France £54m to boost patrols along France’s northern coast.

    A report, in The Times, says Mr Sunak wants to close a new deal with France, including targets for how many boats are stopped.

    It has been claimed that the French “pulled the plug” on a draft agreement back in the summer after Liz Truss said the “jury’s out” on whether Emmanuel Macron was a friend or foe.

    The Elysée has previously declined to comment while Ms Truss and Mr Macron appeared to patch things up after their October meeting in Prague.

    The new prime minister chose on Friday to strike a markedly warm tone towards the French president.

    Following their phone call, No 10 emphasized areas of cooperation – including climate change, defence, the war in Ukraine, and energy.

    According to Downing Street, Mr Sunak “stressed the importance he places on the UK’s relationship with France – our neighbour and ally”.

    The Elysée said Mr Macron spoke of his willingness to deepen ties in defence and energy.

    The UK and France have clashed in recent years over post-Brexit fishing rights, the AUKUS security pact, and migration.

    In November 2021, 27 people died in the worst-recorded migrant tragedy in the Channel.

    But the UK was disinvited from a ministerial meeting on the issue after Mr Macron accused Boris Johnson – prime minister at the time – of not being serious.

    There is speculation that Mr Sunak may forge a more positive relationship with the French president than with his two predecessors.

    They are close in age, often seen as “slick” in appearance, and worked in banking before turning to politics.

    Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson
    IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS Image caption, They clashed but before leaving office, Mr Johnson described the French president as “a très bon buddy”

    “I think in terms of style, they’re quite compatible,” says Lord Ricketts, who previously served as the UK’s ambassador to France.

    However, the cross-bench peer notes that in substance, they’re a long way apart on certain issues.

    Mr Sunak was a Brexit supporter in 2016 while Emmanuel Macron is passionately pro-European.

    The new prime minister has also signalled he intends to push ahead with certain policies, strongly disliked by the Elysée.

    They include sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and pursuing legislation that could allow ministers to override parts of the post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

    “But at least there’ll be a more serious dialogue than there ever was under Boris Johnson, provided Rishi Sunak can stay away from using France as a political football,” says Lord Ricketts.

    In August, before leaving Downing Street, Boris Johnson said Emmanuel Macron was a “très bon buddy” and described the UK-France relationship as one of “huge importance.”

    A France-UK summit will go ahead next year.

     

     

  • PM’s re-appointment of Braverman has come at a political cost

    In his first week in office, the PM is fighting a battle on two fronts: over his home secretary and the widely anticipated government spending squeeze.

    The latter has already stirred Tory unrest, with former minister Maria Caulfield suggesting the government should stick to the 2019 manifesto and saying indecision over pensions means “people start to worry”.

    The PM notably hasn’t ruled out that the pensions triple lock could be on the chopping board, unlike his predecessor Liz Truss, as speculation mounts over a new age of austerity when the chancellor unveils his budget plans next month.

    Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said “difficult decisions” are on the horizon.

    The more immediate threat, though, is Suella Braverman.

    The home secretary, whose backing boosted Mr Sunak’s leadership bid, broke the minister code “multiple times”, Tory MP Jake Berry said last night.

    The former party chairman’s comments were seized on by Labour this morning – and they show backbench MPs are already able to make Mr Sunak’s life difficult.

    This morning another Tory MP, Caroline Nokes, said there are “big questions hanging over this whole issue”.

    There are indeed questions: Was the PM warned by the cabinet secretary when he appointed Mrs Braverman (as one source told political editor Beth Rigby)?

    Why did he not heed that warning? And what were the exact circumstances of her breach of the ministerial code?

    For a new prime minister who says he wants to do things differently, Mr Sunak may well need to address these questions directly.

    One cabinet source told me the PM would not risk losing his home secretary, sacking her would certainly be a bold move that would rumble the carefully balanced semblance of party unity.

    The government says she admitted her mistake and is allowed a second chance, but it is clear Mr Sunak’s decision to appoint Mrs Braverman has come at a political cost.

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana 

    Source: Skynews.com

     

     

  • Who is Rishi Sunak? The UK’s first British Asian prime minister

    We look at how the Southampton-born banker made his way to the top job in Downing Street.

    Just seven weeks ago, Rishi Sunak was licking his wounds after losing the Tory leadership race to Liz Truss.

    Now, he has become the youngest prime minister of the modern era.

    As he settles into his tenure in Number 10 as the third PM of 2022, let’s look back at how he made it to the top job.

    First-class Oxford degree

    Born in 1980 in Southampton, he is the eldest of three children to his parents of Punjabi descent.

    He attended England’s oldest public school, Winchester College, where he became the first Indian-origin head boy and was editor of the school paper.

    He has since said his experience at the boarding school was “intellectually transforming” and put him “on a different trajectory”.

    Mr Sunak went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College at Oxford University, where he obtained a first-class degree.

    After completing an MBA at Stanford University, where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, Mr Sunak worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst.

    He was said to have already had job offers from investment banks under his belt while still in his second year at Oxford.

    He moved to work for hedge funds in 2006 when he joined TCI, known as a very aggressive fund, and left three years later to cofound a new hedge fund.

    Mr Sunak then turned his attention to politics.

    Replacing a Tory grandee

    In 2014, Mr Sunak was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the Yorkshire seat of Richmond – previously held by former Tory leader William Hague – before the following year’s general election.

    Nicknamed the “maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales”, he recalled being introduced as “the new William Hague” to his constituents after winning the ballot, to which a Yorkshire farmer replied: “Ah yes Haguey!

    “Good bloke. I like him. Bit pale, though. This one’s got a nice tan.”

    Soon after his entry into the Commons – where, as a Hindu, he took his oath on the Bhagavad Gita – the first big political fight of his career came along in Brexit.

    Mr Sunak supported leaving the EU, claiming the UK would be “freer, fairer and more prosperous” outside the bloc.

    His side won, and he bided his time on the backbenches, supporting Theresa May’s negotiations and writing papers on the benefits of freeports, before being appointed to government in January 2018 as a junior minister at the housing ministry.

    After Mrs May’s demise, he joined with colleagues Oliver Dowden and Robert Jenrick to write an article in The Telegraph, backing Boris Johnson as the only person who could “save” the Tory party.

    His support paid off, as when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Mr Sunak secured a promotion to become chief secretary to the Treasury, becoming the right-hand man to Mr Javid as chancellor.

    It was the exit of that boss that led to his real rise to prominence when he was made chancellor in February 2020 – a month before COVID took hold.

    From relative unknown to household name

    Sunak won praise throughout the pandemic for rapidly introducing support schemes worth billions of pounds to keep jobs and businesses afloat during 18 months of lockdowns.

    The likes of furlough and the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme led to “dishy Rishi” becoming a household name, and a popular one with the public.

    At the height of this popularity, he was seen by many Tory MPs as the sure-fire favourite to succeed Mr Johnson when the time came.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak places an Eat Out to Help Out sticker in the window of a business during a visit to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.
    Image:The then-chancellor’s Eat Out to Help Out plan made him a household name.

    But he seemed to fall from grace as quickly as he rose to fame.

    Mr Sunak introduced a number of policies that went down badly with Tory MPs, especially the rise in national insurance to fund more money for the NHS and social care.

    He was also fined for attending the prime minister’s birthday party during lockdown in 2020, compromising his ability to separate himself from the partygate scandal.

    But it was revelations about his wife that really damaged his standing with the public.

    Wife’s non-dom status damages leadership hopes

    Ms Murty is a multimillionaire and the daughter of billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of the Indian technology giant Infosys.

    In April, it was revealed she held non-dom status, meaning she did not have to pay UK tax on her sizeable international income, and it led to an uproar.

    Akshata Murthy, wife of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, hands out tea to the waiting media outside their home in central London following his resignation on Tuesday. Picture date: Wednesday July 6, 2022.
    Image:Akshata Murthy’s tax affairs brought his position as chancellor into question.

    She later confirmed she would begin to pay tax on her international earnings as it had “become clear that many do not feel [the non-dom status] is compatible with my husband’s role as chancellor”.

    The row led to opposition parties highlighting his family’s wealth, with Mr Sunak facing accusations that his personal circumstances made him an unsuitable candidate to take over and tackle the cost of living crisis.

    Although he remained as chancellor, many wrote off his chances of becoming the next Tory leader.

    But his resignation in July sparked a ministerial exodus and Mr Johnson’s resignation, paving the way for his first attempt at Downing Street.

    In the ensuing leadership race, Mr Sunak came out on top in each of the five parliamentary rounds of the contest, making it to the final two along with Ms Truss.

    But as the campaign hit its stride and widened to the party membership, Mr Sunak found himself transformed from favourite to underdog.

    While he warned of “tough choices ahead” to tackle record levels of national debt incurred during the pandemic, Ms Truss promised tax cuts as a priority.

    He accused his competitor of “fairy-tale” economics and peddling “something-for-nothing” plans that even Jeremy Corbyn would baulk at.

    But Ms Truss doubled down, landing blows on Mr Sunak for putting taxes up to the highest level in 70 years.

    Staying in the background

    She went on to win the party leadership after securing 57% of valid votes cast, compared to 43% for Mr Sunak.

    While Ms Truss embarked on a path of economic turmoil thanks to her tax-slashing mini-budget, the former chancellor kept a low profile, only appearing in the Commons for a few backbench debates and staying away from the cameras.

    And after her resignation following a historically short tenure, all eyes were back on Mr Sunak as the candidate to bring back stability to the markets and, perhaps, the party.

    He announced he was running to replace Ms Truss on Twitter three days later, having already reached the 100+ nominations needed to get a place on the ballot.

    But that was all we saw of the favourite for PM as he again kept out of the spotlight, despite going for the highest-profile job in the land.

    Source: Skynews.com

     

  • Fracking ban: Rishi Sunak reinstates – another Truss policy is reversed

    Liz Truss lifted the Conservatives’ 2019 ban on fracking for shale gas, claiming it would help with rising energy costs. However, the measure was opposed by many Conservatives whose constituents are opposed to fracking in their areas.

    Rishi Sunak is reinstating the ban on fracking that Liz Truss controversially lifted.

    During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the new prime minister said he stands “by the manifesto” on fracking.

    The Conservative 2019 manifesto placed a moratorium on fracking in England following opposition from environmentalists and local communities.

    Mr Sunak’s spokesman explicitly confirmed he was reinstating the ban after PMQs.

    Ms Truss lifted the ban last month as part of her plan to limit rising energy costs but said fracking would only resume where there was local consent.

    Fracking was ultimately what brought her government down after Labour tabled an opposition day motion last Wednesday calling for a draft law to ban fracking.

    But the Tory party whips said the motion was actually a vote of confidence in the government and told Conservative MPs they had to vote against it or face being suspended.

    However, many of them and their constituents are opposed to fracking and said they could not vote to support fracking, even if the whips saw the vote as something different.

    As the vote was taking place there were accusations of “bullying” and “manhandling” of Tory MPs who were being told to vote against the motion.

    The following day, Ms Truss stepped down as PM.

    Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate and net zero secretaries, said Mr Sunak voted against Labour’s fracking ban last week and is now putting a moratorium on the practice.

    “Whatever their latest position, the truth is that the Tories have shown that they cannot be trusted on the issue of fracking,” he said.

    Ms Truss had to make a number of U-turns after her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng brought in a raft of unfunded tax cuts which unleashed economic turmoil in the UK for weeks.

    Mr Sunak has, so far, kept most of those U-turns but the fracking ban is the first Truss policy he has reversed since he became PM on Tuesday.

     

  • Sunak to soon appoint a new ethics adviser’ shortly,’ filling a position that has been vacant since June

    Rishi Sunak has announced that he will appoint a new independent ethics adviser to fill the vacancy left by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

    Downing Street announced on Wednesday that the new Prime Minister will soon appoint a new independent ministerial interests adviser.

    Lord Geidt, the previous ministerial interests adviser, resigned in June and was not replaced when Boris Johnson resigned.

    Ms Truss, during her brief tenure in Downing Street, had not appointed an ethics adviser.

    The prime minister’s official spokesman said that the appointment of the new ethics adviser would be “done shortly”.

    Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin also confirmed in the Commons that “it is absolutely the prime minister’s intention to appoint an independent adviser”.

    Under Mr Johnson’s tenure, two ethics advisers quit within two years.

    Veteran civil servant Sir Alex Allan resigned as ethics adviser in November 2020 after Mr Johnson failed to act on a critical report on alleged bullying by then Home Secretary Priti Patel.

    His successor, Lord Geidt, resigned in June this year after accusing Mr Johnson of proposing a “deliberate” breach of the ministerial code.

     

  • Michael Gove has been reinstated as levelling up secretary

    Michael Gove has returned to the cabinet under Rishi Sunak, three months after being fired by Boris Johnson. He will resume his duties as levelling up secretary.

    Mr Gove was on the back benches for the first time in a very long while after being removed from the position in the wake of political chaos under Mr Johnson.

    It had been widely suspected Mr Gove would return to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

    This could be a tactical move by Mr Sunak, as Mr Gove has not been shy in criticising the government from the backbenches.

    Labour’s shadow minister for levelling up responded with a jibe, saying: “If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try and try again…”

    Lisa Nandy added: “Congratulations Michael Gove. The job has got a whole lot harder.”

     

     

  • Sir Keir Starmer: Sunak will be a ‘weak’ prime minister

    Sir Keir Starmer has dropped the gloves in his latest remarks about the new Prime Minister, after previously congratulating Rishi Sunak.

    Mr Sunak has only ever fought one leadership election battle, which he was “thrashed” by Liz Truss, the Labour leader told his shadow cabinet.

    “Rishi Sunak stabbed Boris Johnson in the back when he thought he could get his job. And in the same way, he will now try and disown the Tory record of recent years and recent months and pretend that he is a new broom,” Sir Keir said, according to a readout of the meeting.

    “But he was also the chancellor who left Britain facing the lowest growth of any developed country, the highest inflation, and millions of people worried about their bills. And now he plans to make working people pay the price for the Tories crashing the economy.”

    He said Mr Sunak is a “weak prime minister who will have to put his party first and the country second”.

    Acknowledging the Tories could expect a “bounce” in the opinion polls, he said he knew Labour’s huge lead in recent surveys was no more than an “enjoyable story”

     

  • ‘ Sunak makes dig at previous government: Some mistakes were made

    A protester shouts “Rishi out!” as Rishi Sunak arrives at Downing Street.

    Standing at the lectern outside his new home, he announces that he has accepted the King’s invitation to form a government.

    He takes a solemn approach, saying the country is “facing a profound economic crisis”, the aftermath of COVID “lingers” and Putin is presenting a threat in Ukraine.

    Mr Sunak pays tribute to his predecessor Liz Truss, saying she was enthusiastic to create change, but “some mistakes were made”.

    He says they were not the result of “bad intentions”, but they were “mistakes nonetheless”.

    “I have been made the leader of the party and your prime minister, in part, to fix them, and that work begins now,” he says.

     

  • Liz Truss defends tax-cutting goals as she bids farewell to the Senate

    Liz Truss has defended her lower-tax vision for the UK as she prepares to leave office as the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister in history.

    She urged her successor, Rishi Sunak, to be “bold” in order to boost the economy in an unapologetic farewell speech.

    She said the UK “cannot afford” for government spending to take up an “increasing share of our national wealth”.

    And she insisted “brighter days lie ahead” for the UK.

    Flanked by her husband and children, Ms Truss said she would go back to being a backbench MP for her South West Norfolk constituency.

    Mr Sunak will take power later after he is formally appointed by the King following his victory in the Conservative leadership contest.

    Ms Truss announced her resignation last week after just 45 days in office, after big tax cuts in a hastily-assembled mini-budget prompted financial turmoil.

    After initially defending her agenda, she later abandoned almost all of it in a bid to calm markets but saw support from her own MPs ebb away.

    But she struck a defiant tone in her speech in Downing Street, adding: “I’m more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face.

    “We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth,” she added.

    Quoting the Roman philosopher Seneca, she added: “it’s not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it’s because we do not dare that they are difficult.”

    She also pointed to her reversal of April’s National Insurance rise and her plan to limit energy rises as examples of successes during her short time in office.

    She also urged Mr Sunak to continue British support for Ukraine, adding the country “must prevail” in its “brave fight against [Vladimir] Putin’s aggression”.

     

  • There was no ‘I am sorry’ as Liz Truss resigned

    Liz Truss did not apologize as she gave her final speech as prime minister.

    Sky News political editor Beth Rigby noted how she, like Boris Johnson, focused on her successes and not the missteps.

    Beth said: “I think there was an opportunity there for Liz Truss to do what she actually did in front of the media on Monday after Jeremy Hunt junked her entire budget and say ‘I am sorry for the mistakes I made.’

    “You did not see that at the podium. There was no I am sorry.

    “It was very Johnsonian in that way, but a different style. That doesn’t surprise me.

    “I was thinking about this last night and really, Rishi Sunak is a return to politics as usual in terms of how a prime minister might conduct themselves.

    “If you think about Boris Johnson, he was a populist, he had this popular appeal, and he liked to break the rules.

    “He, to his critics, showed disregard for rules, and in the end, that was his undoing.

    “Liz Truss was ideological, really in hot pursuit of what she wanted to do, quite a radical.

    “Rishi Sunak is a different type of politician.

    “So it doesn’t surprise me that Liz Truss was quite like Boris Johnson in talking about her wins and glossing over her losses.”

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana

    Source: Sky News.com, Beth Rigby

     

  • What did Truss tell her final cabinet?

    According to a media notice from Downing Street, Liz Truss used her final cabinet meeting to tell her ministers the government had “secured some significant achievements” in the “short time” it had been in place.

    A readout of this morning’s meeting said: “The prime minister opened cabinet by thanking ministers for their support. She said that in the short time the government had been in place they had secured some significant achievements.

    “She said the government ensured the country was able to mourn the passing of Her Majesty The Queen and to welcome His Majesty King Charles III as the new monarch, a vital moment in the history of our country.

    “The prime minister said the government acted to immediately protect the public and businesses from unsustainably high energy bills – bringing in the Energy Price Guarantee to save the typical household around £700 this winter.

    “The government also stuck to its pledge to scrap the rise in national insurance and demonstrated its steadfast commitment in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s war of aggression.”

    The media notice ends: “The prime minister concluded by saying her time in the role had been a huge privilege and that her successor will have her support as they now build on the important steps already taken by the cabinet to support the country.”

    Source: Sky News.com

     

  • Rishi Sunak to meet King Charles on Tuesday morning before taking over as prime minister

    The government has set a date for Rishi Sunak to visit Buckingham Palace and meet King Charles on Tuesday.

    Sunakwill meet the monarch after Liz Truss has chaired a final meeting of her cabinet at 9am, after which she will make a speech outside Downing Street. She will then go to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the King.

    Afterwards, Sunak will go and meet the King, where he will be asked to form a government.

    The new prime minister will then give a speech outside Number 10 at about 11.35am.

     

  • Why Rishi Sunak may put his critics in the cabinet

    When Liz Truss became prime minister, some commented that she had built up a cabinet almost entirely of her supporters. 

    Butour political correspondent Tamara Cohen says Rishi Sunak is likely to take a different approach.

    “Rishi Sunak’s team say that when he talks about a government of all the talents, he actually means it this time,” she says.

    This means bringing in people who don’t support or agree with him.

    While this risks high-profile complainers in the newspapers come budget time, Tamara says there is another reason Mr Sunak will want to keep his critics close.

    The Tories command a majority of nearly 80 in the Commons, but plenty of MPs backed Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt in the leadership race – meaning the party is “deeply divided” and votes on spending cuts could be difficult to get through.

    Every vote will count for Mr Sunak, Tamara says – so he’ll need “as many of his critics in government positions as possible”.

    Margaret Thatcher had taken a similar approach, appointing her critics so people would challenge her.

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana

    Source: Sky News.com

  • Investors believe Sunak will stick to Hunt’s budget, thus gilts are back on track

    The gilt market was returned to its pre-Liz Truss mini-budget level shortly after Rishi Sunak was declared as Tory leader.

    Gilts, or UK government bonds, are an essential part of our financial markets.

    Following the mini-budget, the Bank of England was forced to intervene to prevent the gilt market from worsening.

    UK government bonds were already staging a rally as Monday began and this rally became more aggressive as it became clearer that Rishi Sunak would likely face an unopposed run to the top job, business reporter Sharon Marris writes.

    The 30-year gilt had been pummelled after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget in September but it recovered late on Monday to levels seen before Mr Kwarteng’s tax-cutting plans had prompted a markets meltdown.

    Investors are betting that Mr Sunak, a former chancellor with a background in finance, will stick with the economic policies announced by current chancellor Jeremy Hunt, which have calmed the markets in recent days.

     

  • Spokesman for Truss says Sunak will not take over as PM on Monday

    The handover of power from Truss to Sunak will not take place on Monday, the Reuters news agency has quoted a spokesman for the current prime minister as saying.

    “I can confirm that the transition won’t be taking place today,” the spokesman said.

    He added that discussions between the outgoing and incoming prime ministers and King Charles III on the timing and choreography of the changeover were being held.

    Source: Aljazeera.com

     

  • Archbishop of Canterbury on incoming PM: ‘Please join me in praying for Rishi Sunak’

    After being elected leader of the Conservative Party, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby asked the British people to “please join me in praying for Rishi Sunak.”

    He said it was a time of “great difficulty and uncertainty” for the UK.

    “Please join me in praying for Rishi Sunak as he takes on the responsibilities of leadership.

    “May he, and all leaders of all parties, work across divides to bring unity and offer stability for those who need it most.”

    Mr Sunak took the post unopposed on Monday after Liz Truss resigned as prime minister on Thursday.

    She had been in Number 10 for 44 days – the shortest premiership of any British prime minister.

  • Sunak arrives at CCHQ to cheers

    Rishi Sunak has arrived at the Conservative Party Headquarters in Westminster in the last few moments.

    Tory MPs had gathered on the steps ahead of his arrival, with former health secretary Matt Hancock joining the crowds.

    Mr Sunak was met by applause and cheers, shaking the hands of a number of those awaiting the arrival of their new leader.

    The incoming prime minister waved to those waiting – and the cameras – before heading inside CCHQ.

     

  • Analysis: Will Rishi Sunak be able to unite his party?

    After a mainly shadowy leadership race, the veil has cleared and we now have a new prime minister. We’ll never know how many supporters Penny Mordaunt – or Boris Johnson – had, but it wasn’t clear if this would be a coronation or a struggle until the very end.

    It is extraordinary to see the man who was defeated by Liz Truss seven weeks ago replacing her so soon. This time 12 days ago, Kwasi Kwarteng was chancellor and Liz Truss was pushing ahead with her economic vision. Few could have imagined Rishi Sunak would have another shot at the top job so soon.

    But today it became clear a Sunak era was close. Pressure had been mounting on Ms. Mordaunt, who was stuck on 25 public endorsements this morning, to pull out as her team dug in. Behind the scenes, they said she had more than 90 backers. She might indeed have been close, but the momentum from the start of this race has been with Mr Sunak.

    He did no media interviews, there were no swish videos – just one plain statement announcing he wanted to be the next prime minister.

    The former chancellor has managed to bring together very different wings of the party, from Caroline Naokes to Suella Braverman. Even the most ardent of Boris Johnson backers James Duddridge eventually rowed in behind Mr Sunak. His allies say has been proven right on the economy, but the divisions in the Tory party run deep and could quickly resurface. He inherits a grim in-tray in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and will need to find a way to stop the Tory party from tearing itself apart.

    They say divided parties don’t win elections. As the next general election slowly starts to creep into view, will Mr Sunak be able to unite the party enough to govern effectively? He certainly has his work cut out.

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana

    Source: Skynews 

  • Sunak favourite to become next UK PM after Johnson pulls out

    Rishi Sunak is favourite to become Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race to replace Liz Truss, who resigned last week after an economic upheaval.

    With the endorsement of nearly 150 conservative MPs, Sunak – who served as Chancellor under Johnson – has emerged as the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race.

    The only other challenger, Penny Mordaunt, has reportedly the backing of less than 30 MPs. A candidate requires nominations from at least 100 MPs to stand in the race.

    Johnson had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try and secure the backing of 100 legislators to enter the contest to replace Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was forced to quit over a string of scandals.

    He said late on Sunday that he had secured the backing of 102 legislators and could have been “back in Downing Street”, but that he had failed to persuade either Sunak or the other contender Mordaunt, to come together “in the national interest”.

    “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” Johnson said.

    The former prime minister had secured the public backing of just less than 60 Conservative legislators by Sunday.

    Johnson’s statement likely paves the way for his archrival, the 42-year-old Sunak, to become prime minister, possibly as soon as Monday.

    If confirmed, he would replace Truss, who was forced to resign after she launched an economic programme that triggered turmoil in financial markets. According to the rules, if only one candidate secures the backing of 100 Conservative legislators, they will be named prime minister on Monday.

    If two candidates pass the threshold, they will go forward to a vote of the party membership, with the winner announced on Friday, just days before new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt lays bare the state of the country’s finances in a budget plan due to be released on October 31.

    That had raised concerns that Johnson would return to Downing Street with the backing of the party members and not a majority of legislators in parliament, leaving the party badly divided. Hunt declared his backing for Sunak late on Sunday.

    “I’ve never known this sort of rancour and division and it is very destabilising,” said Daniel Kawczynski, a Conservative legislator. “It is destabilising for the party, and destabilising for the country.”

    ‘Torn itself apart’

    Some Johnson supporters could switch to Mordaunt, who has presented herself as the unity candidate, but many immediately switched to Sunak. A source close to the Mordaunt campaign said the former defence minister would continue in the contest.

    “She is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together,” the source said.

    Johnson has loomed large over UK politics ever since he became mayor of London in 2008 and went on to become the face of the Brexit vote in 2016. While he led the Conservative Party to a landslide election in 2019, he was forced out just three years later by a rebellion of his ministers.

    Sunak said he hoped Johnson would continue to contribute to public life “at home and abroad”.

    One Sunak supporter, who asked not to be named, told the Reuters news agency that his main reaction was relief because if Johnson had won, the “party would have torn itself apart”.

    Another Conservative legislator, Lucy Allan, said on Twitter: “I backed Boris for PM, but I think he has done the right thing for the country.”

    Other Johnson backers immediately jumped ship.

    Cabinet office minister Nadhim Zahawi, who minutes earlier had published an article on the Daily Telegraph website praising Johnson, said “a day is a long time in politics”.

    “Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty,” he said.

    Earlier, many of the Conservative legislators who normally back Johnson switched their support to Sunak, saying the country needed a period of stability after months of turmoil that has sparked headlines – and raised alarm – around the world.

    Johnson is also still facing a privileges committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over Downing Street parties during COVID-19 lockdowns. He could be forced to resign or be suspended from office if found guilty.

    Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, said despite Johnson dropping his comeback bid, many people in the UK believe he could still run again in the future.

    “A week ago we would have been surprised if we were thinking of Boris Johnson becoming our prime minister again very soon. So it’s been a whirlwind of events here in London,” Deane told Al Jazeera.

    “Never write off Boris Johnson completely. The political graveyard is littered with the careers of people who say Boris Johnson is finished. Indeed, he’s left the door open for a return down the road in his message to his supporters saying he’s not going to run this time.”

    ‘Questions over legitimacy’

    Deane said Sunak, while all but certain to be confirmed as the UK’s next prime minister, faces many challenges.

    “The Conservative Party has now brought down three prime ministers in a row. If you were to ask Theresa May, or Boris Johnson, or Liz Truss, I think all of them will tell you, it was people within their own party that they feared the most and we are now going to have our third prime minister in a single year. He’s going to face some questions over legitimacy. You know, people voted in 2019 for Boris Johnson, as prime minister, and not Rishi Sunak. And he’s got a large number of people in the party that weren’t keen on him becoming prime minister. So there’s real challenges, but the biggest issue isn’t actually with Sunak’s behaviour. The biggest issue is going to be the party rallying together and coming behind him.”

    Sunak first came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the UK, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns.

    “I served as your chancellor, helping to steer our economy through the toughest of times,” Sunak said in a statement on Sunday. “The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities — if we make the right choice — are phenomenal.”

    If chosen, Sunak would be the first prime minister of Indian origin in the UK.

    His family migrated to the UK in the 1960s, a period when many people from former British colonies arrived to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.

    After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N R Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.
    Source: Aljazeera

  • Rishi Sunak leads Penny Mordaunt in the final hours of the PM race

    After Boris Johnson announced his withdrawal from the campaign to become the United Kingdom’s next Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has emerged as the frontrunner.

    Among Conservative MPs, the former chancellor presently has the most declared supporters.

    The focus now shifts to whether his remaining opponent, Penny Mordaunt, will satisfy the requisite 100 MPs when nominations end at 14:00 BST.

    Mr Johnson withdrew from the race to succeed Liz Truss on Sunday.

    The former prime minister – who was in No 10 until just seven weeks ago – claimed he had met the threshold required to stand but in a statement said “you cannot govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”, adding that now was “simply not the right time”.

    Many of Mr Johnson’s supporters were caught by surprise at his withdrawal. Essex MP James Duddridge, who gave the first indication that Mr Johnson was intending to run in the Tory leadership race, simply tweeted: “Well that was unexpected. Off to bed!”

    With Mr Johnson out of the leadership race, several MPs have begun switching their nominations to the two remaining candidates.

    Some 180 out of 357 Tory MPs have gone public with who they are backing, with Mr Sunak garnering support from 155 and Ms Mordaunt securing 25 backers.

    Ms Mordaunt’s team said she was still in the running and within “touching distance” of getting enough backers, while Mr Sunak’s team said they were taking nothing for granted.

    Damian Green, a former cabinet minister in Theresa May’s government and who is backing Ms Mordaunt, said her numbers are “well above” the published figure.

    “We’re confident of getting to 100 before the deadline of two o’clock and putting to colleagues that the case that Penny is the person best positioned to unify the party,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

    If she does reach 100 backers, the race could then go to an online ballot of Conservative Party members, with the winner of that being announced by Friday.

    Penny Mordaunt in an interview outside the BBC on Sunday
    IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Penny Mordaunt in an interview outside the BBC on Sunday

    Mr Sunak is the firm favourite to replace Ms Truss as PM and could do so by as early as Monday afternoon if Ms Mordaunt fails to meet the benchmark.

    Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who scrapped many of Ms Truss’s major economic plans announced in September’s mini-budget, has endorsed Mr Sunak.

    In a piece in the Daily Telegraph on Monday, Mr Hunt said: “To restore stability and confidence, we need a leader who can be trusted to make difficult choices.

    “We have a leader who can do just that in Rishi Sunak.”

    He added that Mr Sunak had been “proved right” over his “unfunded tax cut” warnings during the summer’s Tory leadership campaign.

    Whoever wins the race will be the UK’s third prime minister in less than two months.

    But there are growing calls from opposition parties for an immediate general election – with Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner saying Mr Sunak had not given a public interview since the leadership process began.

    “The Tories are about to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to the country without him saying a single word about how he would govern,” she said. “No one voted for this.

    “Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago he was trounced by Liz Truss.

    “It’s why we need an election now – people deserve a vote on the future of the country.”

    SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford also said Tory MPs should put pressure on their next leader to immediately call for a general election.

    “That the Tories can foist upon us a third prime minister in just three years without an election, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and economic crisis of their making, speaks to how unfair and undemocratic this Westminster system is,” he said.

    Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has said it would now be impossible to avoid a general election, taking aim at the remaining two candidates.

    Ms Dorries, a long-time ally of Mr Johnson, tweeted that Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt, “despite requests from Boris, refused to unite, which would have made governing utterly impossible”.

    Ms Truss, who replaced Mr Johnson in No 10 following a lengthy leadership campaign in the summer, resigned as prime minister after 45 days in office marked by turmoil. She will become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history when she stands down.

  • Who are the cabinet backing?

    A split has already emerged in the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss about who its members want to lead the Conservatives.

    Some of the key cabinet names publicly backing frontrunner Rishi Sunak are:

    Home Secretary Grant Shapps
    International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch
    Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith

    Others who have declared their support for Boris Johnson are:

    Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke
    Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris
    Alok Sharma, COP26 President
    Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi
    Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan

    Source: BBC

  • King Charles III set to re-perform his mother’s final duty in history-making moment

    King Charles III is following in Queen Elizabeth’s footsteps much sooner than expected.

    Liz Truss has resigned from her role as British Prime Minister. As a result, King Charles will make history by swearing in a new PM less than two months after ascending the throne.

    Truss’s tenure will also make history as the shortest for a British PM…ever.

    King Charles set to re-perform his mother’s final duty in history-making moment
    Kirsty O’Connor/WPA Pool/Getty Images

    The change likely holds special significance to King Charles.

    One of the last constitutional duties his late mother performed before her death was appointing Truss as the new Prime Minister (this is a largely ceremonial duty as the position of PM traditionally goes to the leader of whichever party in Parliament gets the most seats in a general election).

    And now, before his coronation, he’s already following suit.

    King Charles will need to appoint a new Prime Minister as soon as posible. No details have been shared about who will take over for Truss, so be on the lookout for more information.

    King Charles set to re-perform his mother’s final duty in history-making moment
    YUI MOK/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

    If you recall, Truss was sworn in as Prime Minister just two days before Queen Elizabeth tragically passed away at age 96.

    During her reign, the queen welcomed a total of 15 Prime Ministers. While King Charles still has a long way to go, BBC journalist Philip Sim joked that King Charles is on track to make history (again).

    “On current pace, King Charles could surpass his mother’s record of 15 prime ministers before the end of 2024,” he wrote on Twitter.

    It’s the end of another era.

    Source: Yahoo.com via MyJoyOnline

  • A look at the next fortnight

    The contest to replace Liz Truss is heating up, with more MPs coming forwards to say who they are backing by the hour.

    Here’s a quick rundown of what the next couple of weeks is likely to involve:

    Source: BBC

  • Will Liz Truss get a pension? The perks former prime ministers get

    Despite making history and spending only 45 days in the job before resigning, Liz Truss is set to be offered the same package all former residents of No 10 have received.

    But what are the perks she could get?

    Public allowance

    All former prime ministers are able to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), currently set at a maximum of £115,000 per year.

    The payment was introduced to meet the cost of continuing public duties after someone leaves Downing Street.

    This can include office costs, salaries for staff, or travel to events where they are appearing in their capacity as an ex-prime minister.

    John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May have all claimed at least part of the allowance. It is not yet known whether Boris Johnson has made a claim, as this year’s figures are yet to be published.

    Former holders of the office have not always claimed the full amount.

    There is also a severance payment, which amounts to a one-off payment of 25% of the annual salary for the post that ministers have left.

    Source: BBC

  • Liz Truss entitled to £115k a year despite only serving 45 days as PM

    Liz Truss is entitled to more than £100,000 a year as a former prime minister, despite only being in office for 45 days.

    Truss resigned on Thursday after her tumultuous stint as prime minister resulted in deep splits within her party and fury over her handling of the economy.

    A new PM is expected to be in place by next Friday with Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak among the favourites to win.

    Truss has not indicated what she will do after resigning but all former PMs are entitled to money through the Public Duties Cost Allowance (PDCA).

    Liz Truss entitled to £115k a year despite only serving 45 days as PM
    John Major and Tony Blair have both claimed the expense ever since they left office. (PA)

    It is currently set at £115,000 a year and hasn’t changed since 2011.

    Despite Truss only being in office for just over five weeks, she is still entitled to the yearly sum for the rest of her life.

    John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all claimed more than £100,000 in the last financial year.

    The PDCA was announced in 1991 by Major and Margaret Thatcher was the first former prime minister to benefit from it.

    The government says the purpose of the allowance is to allow former PMs to still take an active part in public life.

    It is not a direct wage, but rather an allowance they can claim to cover expenses to pay for travel, staff and offices they may require from their special position in public life.

    It is not allowed to be used for private life or for their parliamentary office if they still remain an MP.

    All former PMs can claim the allowance unless they are the leader of the opposition.

    They can claim it for the rest of their life, and any staff who are still employed by them upon their death can receive redundancy pay from the pot.

    The details of the leadership election have not yet been described, but many Tory MPs are hoping the party will rally behind a unity candidate quickly.

    How the Tory membership will be involved still has not yet been figured out, as the balloting of the whole party is by far the longest part of the whole process.

    1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady has said he expects Tory members to be involved in choosing a new party leader.

    Asked if the party faithful will be included in the process, he told reporters: “Well, that is the expectation.

    “So the reason I’ve spoken to the party chairman and I discussed the parameters of a process is to look at how we can make the whole thing happen, including the party being consulted, by Friday next week.”


    Brady added: “I think we’re deeply conscious of the imperative in the national interest of resolving this clearly and quickly.”

    All of the opposition parties have called for a general election as a result of Truss’s resignation.

    Source: Complex.com

  • Prime Minister to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor – Former deputy governor of the Bank of England

    The former deputy governor of the Bank of England says the future Prime Minister will have to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor.

    Prof Charlie Bean has been telling BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme that appointing a new chancellor would “generate volatility”.

    He says any change to Hunt’s economic programme would be “problematic”,

    “It is a significant tying of hands.”

    Prof Bean praises Hunt for doing “quite a good job” of calming the markets and setting out a broad direction by “unwinding two-thirds” of the cost of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget which caused financial chaos last month.

    He says there could be some “tweaking at the margins” of Hunt’s plans – but it would be “problematic” if the new PM came in and said they wanted a more significant change in the economic package ahead of the financial statement on 31 October.

     

  • Johnson may struggle to unify party

    “You have to really want it,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace about the job of prime minister today.

    He clearly does not want it himself.

    But he also clearly would like to see the return of his old political friend Boris Johnson.

    The two go back a long way. In 2016, Wallace ran Johnson’s failed leadership bid after the Brexit referendum.

    When Johnson resigned this summer, Wallace is said to have worried that losing him as a leader without a plan for a successor would land the party in trouble.

    His support today was not totally unqualified. He did nod towards “questions” around Johnson.

    The trouble is they are more than just “questions” for a significant number of Tory MPs who remember Johnson for the chaos he brought to Downing Street, the fact he broke the law while in office, was fined, saw dozens of resignations, and is still being investigated by parliament for lying.

    Wallace said today a new Tory leader had to have a focus on unity, but that’s something Johnson may struggle to bring to his party.

    DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana

    Source: BBC.com

  • Calls for Liz Truss not to be paid the yearly £115,000 as ex-prime minister

    Sir Keir Starmer has urged Liz Truss not to take an allowance of up to £115,000 per year after she resigned as Prime Minister.

    Liz Truss resigned from the lectern outside No. 10 on Thursday, following only 44 days on the job.

    It means she will be able to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), which is currently fixed at £115,000 and is available to all previous prime ministers.

    But the Labour leader said she’s “not earned the right” to the entitlement.

    Former prime ministers are able to draw on the PDCA for any costs that arise as a result of public duties.

    But Sir Keir, speaking to the BBC, said: “She shouldn’t take that entitlement. After 44 days she has not earned the right to that entitlement, she should turn it down.”

    Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, has also said she should not claim the money.

    “Most people have to work at least 35 years to get a full state pension,” Mr Davey told LBC radio. “I think working 45 days shouldn’t give you a pension that is many many times what ordinary people out there get after a lifetime of work”

    Their remarks follow similar calls from unions and campaigners for the prime minister to turn it down.

    What is the allowance?

    The PDCA was announced by former prime minister John Major in March 1991 in the wake of Margaret Thatcher’s resignation.

    It was introduced in order to assist former prime ministers still active in private life, with payments only made to meet the actual cost of continuing to fulfill public duties.

    The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for office costs and secretarial costs “arising from their special position in public life” – for example, office costs, salaries for staff who help them with their work in public life, or travel to events where they’re appearing as an ex-PM.

    It is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties.

    Sir John Major
    Image caption, John Major announced the measure in 1991

    All former prime ministers are eligible to draw on the PDCA. John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May have all claimed the allowance after leaving No 10. It is not yet known whether Boris Johnson has claimed the allowance as the figures, which are released every year, have not yet been published.

    The current limit on what they are able to draw is set at £115,000 and has remained frozen since 2011.

    Former PMs have not always claimed the full amount, and it is not paid automatically, so they have to provide receipts.

    Both John Major and Tony Blair claimed the full amount for 2020-21, Gordon Brown claimed £114,712, David Cameron claimed £113,423 and Theresa May claimed £57,382.

    The fund also allows former PMs to claim up to 10% of the cost of this allowance to fund the pensions of staff who work in their post-prime ministerial offices.

    There is also a severance payment, which amounts to a one-off payment of 25% of the annual salary for the post that ministers have left. For prime ministers, it is about £19,000 (25% of £79,000 annual salary).

     

  • Ukraine deletes tweet with Boris Johnson meme

    After Liz Truss’ resignation, the official Twitter account of Ukraine’s government issued a tweet that appeared to be sympathetic to the former leader, fueling rumors that Boris Johnson will try to reclaim his position as Prime Minister.

    Mr Johnson is well-liked in Kyiv for his support for the country in its fight against Russia’s invading forces.

    However, the meme based on the Netflix series Better Call Saul and posted by the @Ukraine account triggered a significant backlash, with some even pointing to the Uxbridge MP’s alleged links with Russian figures including Evgeny Lebedev – newspaper owner and son of ex-KGB agent Alexander.

    Evgeny Lebedev was made a lifelong peer in the House of Lords during Mr Johnson’s tenure as PM.

    The tweet was later deleted.

     

     

  • The Kremlin has refused to disclose whether Putin has ordered troops to leave Kherson

    The Kremlin has avoided answering whether President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to leave Kherson.

    Dmitry Peskov, Russia’s spokesman, addressed the question to the defense ministry, stating, “This question concerns the conduct of the special military operation.”

    “I recommend you address it to the defence ministry.”

    It comes as Russian-installed officials are evacuating tens of thousands of residents from the western side of the Dnipro river, which splits the region.

    It also comes after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of planning to blow up a major dam in the region.

    Meanwhile, Russia said that Ukrainian forces had killed at least four people and injured 13 in a missile attack on civilians leaving Kherson.

    Mr Peskov also took a subtle dig at what he hinted was a lack of democracy involved in the process to choose a new British prime minister following the resignation of Liz Truss.

    Asked about the possible return of Boris Johnson to the top post, he said: “We do not expect insight and political wisdom from anyone in the countries of the collective West, let alone Britain.

    “Especially in Britain, where people do not choose the person at the head of the executive branch, who appears as a result of internal party shake-ups.”

     

  • Kremlin: ‘We do not expect insight’ from the UK in picking a new Prime Minister

    Following Liz Truss’s announcement that she was going to step down as prime minister, the Kremlin said it did not expect Britain to choose its new leader with “political wisdom.”

    Asked about the possible return of Boris Johnson to the top post, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We do not expect insight and political wisdom from anyone in the countries of the collective West, let alone Britain. Especially in Britain, where people do not choose the person at the head of the executive branch, who appears as a result of internal party shake-ups.”

    Former prime minister Boris Johnson, an outspoken supporter of Ukraine, was ousted in July after a wave of scandals.

    At the time, Russian media and officials celebrated the news of his departure.

    Russia has likewise warmly welcomed news of Truss’s imminent departure.

     

     

  • Government borrowing soars, as retail sales fall far more than predicted

    Surging inflation means the cost of servicing government debt hit a record level last month, according to figures from the ONS, which also reported that consumers were now back buying less than they were before the COVID pandemic.

    The latest official data on the state of the public finances and consumer spending makes for grim reading as the country awaits its next leader.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that public sector net borrowing came in at £20bn last month – £3bn more than economists had expected.

    The report pointed to a record debt interest payment total of £7.7bn for the month of September – much of which could be attributed to rising inflation as a quarter of payments on the £2.4trn debt mountain are linked to the RPI measure.

    Government spending increased by £5.8bn to £79.3bn as a result of the jump in interest, the ONS said.

    It separately revealed that retail sales volumes fell 1.4% on the previous month, meaning that “consumers were now buying less than before the pandemic”.

    It was likely to reflect not only the deteriorating cost of living crisis that has squeezed consumer budgets this year but also the impact of store closures for the funeral of the Queen.

    The Queen's funeral flanked by navy
    Image: Many retailers closed their stores out of respect for the Queen on the day of her state funeral on 19 September

    The borrowing figures cover the start of Kwasi Kwarteng’s short and turbulent tenure as chancellor.

    He was appointed on 6 September before being fired weeks later following the market chaos that followed the tax giveaway mini-budget on 23 September.

    While the contentious measures have now been largely overturned by the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the backlash temporarily raised the interest rate demanded by investors to hold UK government debt.

    That has fed into fixed-rate mortgage costs.

    Kwasi Kwarteng waves to the media as he leaves 11 Downing Street after being sacked. Pic: AP
    Image: Much of the borrowing – the second-highest September total on record – came while Kwasi Kwarteng was chancellor

    It also led to the pound falling to a record low against the US dollar – with continued sterling weakness adding to the country’s import costs and therefore inflation.

    The chancellor’s medium-term fiscal plan, due on Halloween, will aim to restore market confidence in the UK’s public finances.

    But it will now fall under the oversight of a new PM following the resignation of the ill-fated mini-budget’s architect, Liz Truss.

    The Tories expect their new leader to be in place in a week’s time – days before Mr Hunt is due to outline how he plans to balance the books while also maintaining a measure of support for struggling households and businesses.

    A survey by the City watchdog found that almost 32 million people, or 60% of adults, were already finding it a heavy burden or somewhat of a burden to pay their bills because of the growing cost of living crisis.

    The Financial Conduct Authority’s financial lives survey, which was taken between February and June, said the total was up six million from 2020 when the economy went into lockdown to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Another closely watched survey, compiled by GfK, found that confidence among British consumers remained close to the lowest level on record last month.

    The chancellor said in the wake of the ONS data: “Strong public finances are the foundation of a strong economy.

    “To stabilise markets, I’ve been clear that protecting our public finances means difficult decisions lie ahead.

    “We will do whatever is necessary to get drive down debt in the medium term and to ensure that taxpayers’ money is well spent, putting the public finances on a sustainable path as we grow the economy.”

  • Keir Starmer is at the forefront of calls for an emergency general election

    Following the resignation of the prime minister, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for an emergency general election.

    Sir Keir stated that the country “cannot afford another experiment at the leadership of the Conservative Party.”

    Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister after only 45 days in office, citing she “could not deliver on the mandate on which I was elected.”

    A new prime minister is expected to be announced by 28 October.

    It will be the second Conservative Party leadership election this year.

    The Liberal Democrats, the SNP. Plaid Cymru and the Green Party have also been calling for an immediate general election.

    Scotland’s first minister has said a UK general election is a “democratic imperative” following the resignation of the prime minister.

    “This is an almighty mess, and it is people the length and breadth of the UK who are paying the price of this,” she told the BBC

    “Fundamentally the UK now needs to have a democratic choice over its next prime minister.”

    Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “We do not need another Conservative prime minister lurching from crisis to crisis, we need a general election.

    “It is time for Conservative MPs to do their patriotic duty, put the country first, and give the people a say.”

    He later told BBC Breakfast that no candidate could provide stability because the party is “so divided”.

    “The shambolic nature of the modern Conservative Party doesn’t give me any faith in them,” he said.

    The next general election is not due to take place until at least 2024 after the Conservatives won a landslide majority in the last one in 2019.

    Ms Truss was elected by the Tory membership in September, but she lost authority after a series of U-turns.

    In a brief speech outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said the Conservative Party had elected her on a mandate to cut taxes and boost economic growth.

    She will become the shortest-serving PM in British history when she stands down.

    Leading pollster Professor Sir John Curtice said whoever leads the Conservative party next should “enjoy the next 18 months to two years, because that will probably be their tenure”.

    “Parties and governments who preside over a fiscal crisis have nearly always struggled at the ballot box at the next election,” Sir John said.

    An Opinium poll this week projected a 1997-style landslide for Labour, with the party winning 411 seats.

    The same poll, conducted for the TUC interviewing more than 10,000 adults, predicted the Conservatives would be reduced from 356 MPs to 137.

    Dog by polling station sign
    IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES

    Sir Keir said: “This is not just a soap opera at the top of the Tory party – it’s doing huge damage to the reputation of our country.

    “We need a general election so the public can have their say on this utter chaos.

    “There’s a manifesto that is going to be ready whenever an election is called,” Sir Keir told the BBC’s Newscast podcast.

    “I’ve had a team working on that. I’ve had a team working on general election preparedness. We’ve moved our teams onto a general election footing.

    “We’re very, very prepared should there be a general election.”

    In his speech to the TUC conference on Thursday, Sir Keir said Labour had a long-term plan to “deliver cheaper bills and higher living standards for working people, growth and jobs in every part of our country”.

    He outlined some of the policies he announced at Labour’s annual conference last month, including those in its “green prosperity plan”

    The plan includes pledges to create a publicly-owned renewable energy firm, achieve carbon-free electricity by 2030, and insulate 19 million homes.

     

  • Theresa May pleads for compromise and unity

    The former prime minister has pleaded with her party to provide an “orderly transition”, amid fears the upcoming leadership contest could become messy. 

    Other Conservative MPs have shared similar thoughts this afternoon – including Justin Tomlinson, who said this was the “last-chance saloon” for the party to maintain credibility.

    A vicious leadership contest would further divide an already split party that is about to see its third prime minister in the space of a few months.

    Source: Sky News 

     

     

     

  • Akufo-Addo tops Twitter trends following Liz Truss’ resignation

    President Akufo-Addo is leading the trends on social media platform; Twitter, following the resignation of UK’s Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

    Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister of the UK some 45 days after she took office.

    This comes about a week after UK-born Ghanaian Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked amid fallouts from the mini-budget presented before UK parliament.

    Her resignation comes at a time Ghanaians are calling for the President and Finance minister to resign due to the current economic crisis the country is facing.

    Following the announcement of Liz Truss’ resignation, Ghanaians have taken to Twitter to question why president Akufo-Addo has failed to resign despite the worsening economic crisis and corruption.

    A twitter user, Vincent Aperko, said Liz Truss has resigned but Addo D is still president of Ghana after failing to #FixTheCountry. I still wonder how and why disappointed NNP members still defend Nana Addo outside.”

    Another User, Kuffour will be soo disappointed in Addo D’s government . I now understand why he wanted Alancash to be president instead of Nana Addo”

    Below are some of the tweets:

    Liz Truss has resigned but Addo D is still president of Ghana after failing to #FixTheCountry. I still wonder how and why disappointed NNP members still defend Nana Addo outside. pic.twitter.com/XCF3avDWCc

    — Vincent Aperko (@Vincent_Aperko) October 20, 2022

    You people say you no dey like Mahama, Bawumia too you no dey like. You say make Kennedy Agyapong too komot for der. Now some are even saying Alan Cash is part of Addo D’s administration so they don’t want him either. So now, who do you people want?

    — LAW ???? (@_lawslaw) October 20, 2022

    from Kwame Nkrumah to Addo D, obiaa y3 kwashey boy

    — JAY????(BIRKENSTOCK PLUG) (@THE_REAL_JAY_1) October 20, 2022

    One thing I can remember vividly was that Mahama never pushed blames unlike Addo D and his people.

    — Etornam (@EfoEtornam) October 20, 2022

    Somebody resign just 45days in office but Addo D still dey in office after messing everything up, he sanso get vim dey talk say he taya we. Herrh.

    — Kobby Founda???????? (@Founda__) October 20, 2022

    The pass grade in Ghana is “C” but we voted for Addo “D”. That’s why we’ve failed.

    — Nana B. (@koboateng) October 19, 2022

    Anybody who says “Mahama is not an option” is a big Fool…with greatest of respects! Are you the option? People should not use their disappointment in Addo D and His cohorts to spew Nonsense. Ghanaians are fed up with the double standards ???? @ElikemKotoko @AnnanPerry

    — WogbeMase (@FrancisNuku) October 20, 2022

  • MP reminds his colleagues that Johnson is still being investigated

    While some Conservative MPs are asking for Boris Johnson’s comeback, others are cautioning against it.

    Sir Roger Gale reminded people that the ex-prime minister was still being investigated by the Privileges Committee for potentially misleading the House.

    He added: “Until that investigation is complete and he is found guilty or cleared, there should be no possibility of him returning to government.”

     

  • Pound rallies as Liz Truss announces resignation

    The pound rose against the dollar and government borrowing costs dipped as investors reacted to Prime Minister Liz Truss’s resignation.

    Sterling hit $1.13 as the PM made her announcement, and then rose higher during Thursday afternoon.

    One analyst said investors were “relieved” by the news, despite a lot of uncertainty remaining.

    Business groups said the new prime minister would have to act quickly to restore confidence.

    Government borrowing costs rose sharply last month after the government promised huge tax cuts in its mini-budget without saying how it would pay for them.

    But these costs fell back after the Bank of England stepped in with an emergency support programme, and after Jeremy Hunt reversed nearly all the mini-budget measures when he became chancellor.

    Mr Hunt is due to announce plans for spending and tax on 31 October in his economic plan, which the Treasury confirmed was set to go ahead.

    “Although the resignation of Liz Truss as Prime Minister leaves the UK without a leader when it faces huge economic, fiscal and financial market challenges, the markets appear to be relieved,” said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

    He added that her resignation was “a step that needed to happen for the UK government to move further along the path towards restoring credibility in the eyes of the financial markets”.

    “But more needs to be done and the new prime minister and their chancellor have a big task to navigate the economy through the cost of living crisis, cost of borrowing crisis and the cost of credibility crisis.”

    Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, said the market reaction had been “fairly muted”, with investors waiting for the “detail of what comes next”.

    Pound dollar graphic

    Ms Truss said her successor would be elected in a Tory leadership contest, to be completed in the next week. Her resignation came after a key minister quit and Tory MPs rebelled in a chaotic parliamentary vote on Wednesday.

    Mr French said the markets could rally “more aggressively” if a clear favourite emerged for PM. “The sooner you get there the more likely the person who has won will have the support to do the difficult stuff.”

    The head of the CBI business lobby group, Tony Danker, said: “The politics of recent weeks have undermined the confidence of people, businesses, markets and global investors in Britain.

    “Stability is key. The next prime minister will need to act to restore confidence from day one.

    “They will need to deliver a credible fiscal plan for the medium term as soon as possible, and a plan for the long-term growth of our economy.”

    Source: BBC

  • UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns amid economic turmoil, tax policies

    UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss has resigned from office, the BBC has reported.

    The development comes almost a week after Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng was relieved from his post amid fallouts from the mini-budget presented before the UK parliament.

    The budget which has since sparked financial turmoil in the markets also caused a revolt among Conservative lawmakers in the UK.

    Truss’ resignation comes after just 45 days in office, making her the shortest-serving PM in British history.

    Speaking at a press conference at No 10 Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, Truss said she came into office at a time of “great economic and international instability”.

    “I recognise…given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” she noted.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • Liz Truss: What the world is saying about UK turmoil

    The world has been watching the political and economic upheaval in the UK over the past few weeks.

    The havoc caused by Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax-cutting plan, followed by its withdrawal this week, made headlines around the globe.

    Even US President Joe Biden waded in, breaking diplomatic norms in doing so.

    But what impact has it really had outside the UK? BBC reporters from Berlin to Washington explain how it’s being viewed where they are and what’s changed.

    Britain’s political troubles have raised eyebrows in Germany but few are shocked, says the BBC’s Jenny Hill in Berlin.

    For many in Berlin, the drama in Westminster is viewed – with some sadness – as just the latest episode in the political and economic upheaval which many Germans suspected would be the inevitable consequence of Brexit.

    Neither Chancellor Olaf Scholz nor his ministers have commented publicly on the mini-budget or its repercussions.

    But columnists have been scathing in their assessment; the selection of Liz Truss, said one, was a “fatal choice” made by the Conservatives who ignored warnings about her policy.

    Another expressed incredulity that MPs were plotting to replace the beleaguered prime minister without a general election, warning that such a “coup” risked turning Britain into a “Banana Republic”.

    There was a time when some German politicians would tell me of their admiration for British politics, for the cut and thrust of a system which seemed far more exciting than the compromise-driven, coalition-based German model. It’s an opinion few hold now.

    Japan

    With Japan’s own currency trading at a low, Tokyo is paying attention to the British pound, writes Mariko Oi.

    Japan was once known for its own revolving door of prime ministers so the current political turmoil in the UK doesn’t feel unique to many.

    Some in local media have labelled her “fake Thatcher” and say she has tried to gamble with the government’s finances. Others are asking how this may affect the UK’s policy towards Asia – most notably its tough stance against China.

    In the financial markets, traders have been closely paying attention to the pound as Japan’s own currency is also trading at its 32-year low.

    On social media, some people have been comparing her approval rating to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, saying that he’s still got some room to grow, while others are amused by the British sense of humour behind the “can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce” live stream.

    Posting a photo of the stream, one user wrote: “There is not enough humour in Japanese media”.

    USA

    The bar that foreign news has to clear to penetrate into the American consciousness is quite high.

    Special relationship notwithstanding, the British turmoil has garnered scant attention in the US, aside from a tinge of satisfaction from those travelling to the UK upon realising how much the American dollar can purchase these days.

    One American who was giving Liz Truss’s predicament some consideration, however, was President Joe Biden who called her tax-cutting plan a “mistake”.

    American presidents typically avoid getting too involved in the domestic disputes of other countries. This one, however, took that plunge – even if he seemed to acknowledge he shouldn’t have.

    “I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when,” he said, before cutting himself off. “Anyway, I just think – I disagreed with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me.”

    Of course, Mr Biden has his own political challenges to face, with the midterm elections just a few weeks away, Republicans threatening to win majorities in Congress and Americans facing many of the same economic troubles currently bedevilling the British.

    India

    The focus in India is on its own economy, writes Rajini Vaidyanathan in Delhi.

    News of the turmoil in the UK has barely made the front pages here in India – a sign of how officials in Delhi no longer look to Britain in the way they once did.

    Seventy-five years since India gained independence, the focus is on how the economy here is growing, rather than the financial woes of its former coloniser.

    The big news of Jeremy Hunt’s reversal of the tax cuts made it to page 12 and 15 in two of the country’s most read papers on the day after, though only as stories in the global sections. “PM Truss humiliated” was the headline which accompanied one of the write-ups.

    That’s not to say there’s no interest in Conservative politics or politicians. When British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Indians were the largest group who overstayed their visas, she sparked an angry reaction, as well as speculation her comments could derail a UK-India trade agreement.

    And the real fascination in the summer came when Rishi Sunak entered the final phase of the Conservative leadership contest.

    Many in the country wondered whether Mr Sunak – the son-in-law of Narayana Murthy, one of India’s wealthiest and best- known businessmen – would take charge at Number 10.

    It didn’t happen then but could it now, ask some of the latest headlines. “Is a Rishi Sunak comeback imminent?” said one.

    Source: BBC