Rishi Sunak Prime Minister Highlights: Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to Reuters, earned cheers from his lawmakers and plaudits from political commentators on Wednesday as he locked horns with the opposition Labour Party in parliament for the first time since becoming leader.
“My record is, when times are difficult in this country I will always protect the most vulnerable,” Sunak said to vociferous support from the Conservative benches in the House of Commons. “We did it in COVID and we will do that again.”
On the other hand, Britain postponed the announcement of a plan to repair the country’s public finances to November 17, new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said. The delay was to ensure the right decisions are taken, Hunt told BBC.
The 42-year-old became Britain’s first Indian-origin and non-white Prime Minister after being invited by King Charles III to form a government. Sunak said that he had been appointed in part to fix the mistakes made by his predecessor Liz Truss and warned the country might have to face difficult decisions to overcome a “profound economic crisis”.
Soon after taking over as the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak made key Cabinet appointments and decided to keep the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in place for economic stability. He brought back Indian-origin Suella Braverman as Home Secretary while James Cleverly will remain Foreign Secretary despite not being a Sunak loyalist.
Rishi Sunak earned cheers from his lawmakers and plaudits from political commentators on Wednesday as he locked horns with the opposition Labour Party in parliament for the first time since becoming leader.
Sunak, seeking to end a period of political instability that has seen two previous prime ministers leave Downing Street in two months, struck a confident tone as he sought to get his Conservative Party off the back foot.
The 42-year-old – who became the youngest prime minister in modern British history when he was appointed by King Charles on Tuesday – hit back at Labour’s claims that he is planning to cut public spending sharply to repair the public finances.
“My record is, when times are difficult in this country I will always protect the most vulnerable,” Sunak said to vociferous support from the Conservative benches in the House of Commons. “We did it in COVID and we will do that again.”
Read more here https://indianexpress.com/article/world/sunak-parliament-debut-8231733/
(REUTERS)
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Britain has postponed the announcement of a plan to repair the country’s public finances to Nov. 17 for it to reflect the “most accurate possible economic forecasts,” finance minister Jeremy Hunt said.
“Our number one priority is economic stability and restoring confidence that the United Kingdom is a country that pays its way, and for that reason, the medium term fiscal plan is extremely important,” he said of the fiscal statement, previously scheduled for Oct. 31.
Read more here UK fiscal statement delayed to Nov 17, says finance minister Hunt
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is holding the first meeting of his new Cabinet before facing the opposition in Parliament on Wednesday for the first time as leader.
Sunak took office on Tuesday and appointed a government mixing allies with experienced ministers from the governments of his two immediate predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as he tries to tackle Britain’s multiple economic problems.
A package of unfunded tax cuts Truss unveiled last month spooked financial markets with the prospect of ballooning debt, drove the pound to record lows and forced the Bank of England to intervene — weakening Britain’s fragile economy and obliterating Truss’ authority within the Conservative Party.
Read more https://indianexpress.com/article/world/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-parliament-first-time-8230983/
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed key ministers to his government after replacing Liz Truss as the leader on Tuesday. His Cabinet is a mix of sitting members of the previous government and new leaders.
Sunak brought in people from different wings of the Conservative Party for his Cabinet. He removed about a dozen members of Truss’ government but kept several senior figures in place, including Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
Here is a list of the main Cabinet and ministerial appointments. (Read more)
A renowned south Indian restaurant in Bengaluru, Vidyarthi Bhavan, has tweeted a picture of UK PM Rishi Sunak visting the restaurant in 2019.
#RishiSunak is going to become the next PM of UK.
Happy to know that he will be the first Indian-origin & the youngest British Prime Minister.
We wish him good luck & may he become the most successful PM of UK by sailing through all the turbulence pic.twitter.com/JhWLtcVTu2
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will gather his newly appointed cabinet for the first time on Wednesday, a day after taking power with a promise to fix the mistakes of his predecessor and stabilise the economy.
At the top of Sunak’s agenda will be preparation for a fiscal statement, keenly anticipated by financial markets, which is scheduled for Oct. 31 but which the Times newspaper reported could be pushed back by a few days.
As Britain’s third prime minister this year, Sunak faces a daunting list of problems beyond the economic crisis, including how to unite and rebuild a fractured party whose reputation has been shredded by months of scandals and rows. (Reuters)
As Rishi Sunak takes charge, the nature of the economic challenge he faces is quite daunting. Here are some of the key findings of analysis done by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (in the UK).
Udit Misra, Deputy Associate Editor of The Indian Express explains the challenges for the newly elected PM rishi sunak and UK economic crisis.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will want to take some time to look at the detail of a fiscal statement originally due at the end of this month, foreign minister James Cleverly said Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to ‘work closely’ with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and is unable to confirm if the statement intended for the end of October will still be published on timehttps://t.co/WUnquWvHqf
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/O8EmNbqZB9
Cleverly told Sky News he did not have a “specific confirmation” of the date of the fiscal statement, originally planned for Oct. 31 by Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss, who left office on Tuesday.
“(Sunak), of course, will want to take some time to work on the detail on that,” Cleverly said. “We know it needs to come soon. We know people want certainty. We know people want a clearer idea of the government’s plans.” (Reuters)
British High Commissioner Alex Ellis described as a “historic moment” the elevation of Rishi Sunak as the country’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister.
#WATCH | “The election of the first Hindu PM of Britain is a historic moment,” says Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, in Hindi.
Conservative Party Leader #RishiSunak took charge as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom today. pic.twitter.com/NepldiWipb
“The election of the first Hindu PM of Britain is a historic moment,” Ellis said in Hindi. (Read more)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with US President Joe Biden Tuesday evening and they are set to meet in person at the upcoming G20 Summit in Indonesia, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The leaders discussed the extent of UK-US cooperation, both bilaterally and in regions such as the Indo-Pacific where the AUKUS pact forms part of efforts to counter China’s malign influence, the spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a call that the UK’s support for Ukraine would be steadfast and “as strong as ever under his premiership,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
A privilege to speak to the President of Ukraine @ZelenskyyUa this evening.
Both he and the Ukrainian people can count on the UK’s continued solidarity and support.
We will always stand with Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ycVr3K0DVS
“The Prime Minister said the United Kingdom’s support for Ukraine would be as strong as ever under his premiership, and President Zelenskyy could count on his Government to stand in continued solidarity,” the spokesperson said. (Reuters)
With Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak taking charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, a debate has started over his roots with people from both India and Pakistan making claims and counter-claims over his ancestral lineage.
The reality, however, lies somewhere in the middle, and Sunak’s elevation can be termed as a matter of pride for both India and Pakistan — once ruled by the British for over 100 years, say experts.
Calling himself a “proud Hindu”, Sunak in his speeches often talks about his “Indian roots” and of “where he came from.” From performing gau puja (cow worship), serving community meals at a temple, and not eating beef to celebrating Diwali with family and taking oath on the Bhagavad Gita after becoming an MP, Sunak says he never tried to hide his faith. Sunak has said he marks the “British Indian” category while filling out the UK Census form. (Read more)
Such is the significance of his identity as a British Hindu of Indian-African heritage that it is tempting to overlook Rishi Sunak as the fifth prime minister of an embattled, divided, island in less than six years. After all, racism in the UK runs so deep that it took an economic meltdown, two prime ministerial resignations, lack of an electoral mandate, and severe economic privilege on his part for multiculturalism to succeed. Given that he lost the previous leadership bid to Liz Truss despite demonstrating competence as pandemic-time Chancellor, the accidental nature of his rise is unlikely to be lost on Sunak.
But to understand the gravity of his rise and the choices he faces, there’s a need to locate Sunak at the centre of two interlocking political and economic dilemmas. Politically, Sunak needs to secure the support of the pro-Brexit, anti-migrant constituencies that don’t view him as an English “patriot”, thanks to his skin colour. Economically, he needs to strike the classic balance between welfare spending to alleviate an electorally salient cost-of-living crisis while augmenting support for big private business. Why these dilemmas? Because race and class are paramount fault lines in British national life and Sunak is a privileged minority on both counts. (Read more)
Many Indians are getting excited about, Rishi Sunak — he’s “one of us”, they think. The Internet is flooded with funny memes — showing chappals left by visitors outside 10 Downing Street (presumably because many Indians do not enter homes wearing shoes); a swastika (the ancient Hindu auspicious sign, not the hijacked Nazi caricature) on the door; and on the new Prime Minister’s seeming likeness to Ashish Nehra, the former Indian left-arm fast bowler.
Here are five things you did not — or may not — know about the 57th Prime Minister of the UK. (Read more)
US President Joe Biden and new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a phone call Tuesday, reaffirmed their two countries’ “special relationship” and agreed on the importance of supporting Ukraine, the White House said in a statement.
Biden and Sunak also agreed on the importance of working together to address the challenges posed by China and to secure sustainable and affordable energy resources, the statement said.
They also discussed their commitment to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, it said. (Reuters)
British lawmaker Suella Braverman was reappointed as interior minister on Tuesday by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, less than a week after she resigned from the role for breaching government rules.
Braverman, 42, stepped down a day before former prime minister Liz Truss did after breaching email security rules, also voicing concerns about the direction of Truss’s government in her resignation letter. Read more
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday began putting his top team in place with key Cabinet appointments and decided to keep the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in place for economic stability. In another move aimed at continuity, James Cleverly will stay in his post as Foreign Secretary despite not being a Sunak loyalist. –PTI
Will unite country, not with words, but with action: Rishi Sunak
I will unite our country, not with words, but with action.
I will work day in and day out to deliver for you.
Watch my speech from Downing Street 👇 pic.twitter.com/diOBuwBqXc
Former UK PM Boris Johnson congratulates Rishi Sunak on being appointed as the British PM. “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,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
Congratulations to @RishiSunak on this historic day, this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sunak and said he looks forward to working together with him to transform the India-UK ties into a modern partnership. Sunak’s father-in-law and Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy wished him success. Sunak is married to Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murthy and the couple have two daughters – Krishna, 11, and Anoushka, 9.
Rishi Sunak’s ascent is a breakthrough for diversity, with privilege attached In northwest London, home to one of Britain’s largest Hindu communities, celebrations for Diwali, a festive holiday, were well underway Monday. Children tossed small fireworks that popped as they slammed into the sidewalk. Bright lights strung across the street twinkled overhead. Families bought sweets and candles.
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy married in 2009 and have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka. (Instagram/rishisunakmp)
But many who were gathered with their families said that they suddenly had something new to celebrate — the news that Rishi Sunak, the eldest son of a doctor and pharmacist of Indian descent, will become prime minister, the first person of colour to hold Britain’s highest political office. Britain is home to a vibrant and diverse community of people with roots in India, which it ruled as a colony for nearly a century before India won independence in 1947. As many as 1.5 million people of Indian descent live in England and Wales, making them the largest ethnic group after white Britons. That makes Sunak’s triumph a significant milestone for Britain’s Indian diaspora, whose long struggle against racism and prejudice is rarely a prominent issue in British politics. (Read more)