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Britain’s Conservative Party suffered striking early setbacks on Friday in local elections that are viewed as a barometer for how the party will perform in a coming general election and a key test for the embattled prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Only a minority of the results had been announced by early Friday, but already the signs were ominous, if not unexpected, for Mr. Sunak’s Conservatives, who have trailed the opposition Labour Party by double digits in national polls for 18 months. The Conservatives have lost more than 120 seats so far, including six in Hartlepool, in northeast England, where the Conservatives had made inroads after Brexit but have more recently lost ground to the resurgent Labour Party. Labour also won a special election for a parliamentary seat in Blackpool South, a seaside district, in a huge swing of votes away from the Conservatives, who had held the seat but narrowly missed finishing third, behind Reform U.K., a small right-wing party. The previous Tory member of Parliament, Scott Benton, resigned in March after becoming embroiled in a lobbying scandal.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Scott Benton Organizations: Britain’s Conservative Party, Sunak’s Conservatives, Labour Party, Conservatives, Labour, Blackpool, Reform Locations: Hartlepool, England

☆ As the U.K. Tries Moving Asylum Seekers Offshore, Ireland Pushes Back
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s newly ratified plan to put asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda has drawn objections from human rights groups, British and European courts, the House of Lords and even some members of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. The Irish government said last week that asylum seekers in Britain who fear being deported to Rwanda are instead traveling to Ireland. Irish officials estimate that 80 percent of recent applicants for asylum crossed into the country via Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and with which the Republic of Ireland has an open border. That suggests that Britain’s vow to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is already having something of a deterrent effect, which was Mr. Sunak’s sales pitch for the policy. On Sunday, Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, said, “This country will not in any way, shape or form provide a loophole for anybody else’s migration challenges.”

Persons: Rishi, Simon Harris, ” Organizations: Conservative Party, Northern Ireland Locations: Rwanda, Ireland, Britain, Northern, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ukraine

☆ U.K. Moves to Bar Foreign State Ownership of Newspapers, a Blow to Telegraph Bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Michael M. Grynbaum | Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An audacious effort by the American media executive Jeff Zucker and his Emirati backers to acquire London’s Daily Telegraph appeared to be on life support on Wednesday after the British government advanced legislation that would bar foreign state ownership of newspapers and newsmagazines. The move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would torpedo Mr. Zucker’s bid in its current form, which relies heavily on financing from investment partners in the United Arab Emirates. The use of Emirati funds caused an uproar in Westminster over foreign influence in the British media, given the outsize importance of The Telegraph and its sister publication, The Spectator, to Mr. Sunak’s Conservative Party. Mr. Zucker’s media venture company, RedBird IMI, can now try to salvage its bid for the publications by finding new investors and diluting the Emiratis’ majority stake to a level allowed under the government’s proposed rules. His representatives had no immediate comment on Wednesday.

Persons: Jeff Zucker, Rishi Sunak, Zucker’s, Zucker, Rupert Murdoch Organizations: London’s Daily Telegraph, United, United Arab Emirates, Telegraph, Spectator, Sunak’s Conservative Party, RedBird IMI, CNN Locations: United Arab, Westminster, Britain

LONDON (AP) — Voters in two districts in England delivered new blows to beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, electing opposition-party lawmakers in seats that Sunak’s Conservatives had held for years. Labour Party candidate Damien Egan won the House of Commons seats of Kingswood in southwest England, and Labour's Gen Kitchen took Wellingborough in the country’s center, results announced Friday showed. The Conservatives won both by large margins at the last national election in 2019 but saw support collapse in Thursday's special elections. The hard-right Reform party — formerly known as the Brexit Party — came third, putting more pressure on the Conservatives. The Conservatives pointed to the low turnout — less than 40% of eligible voters cast ballots — as a sign British electors are not enthusiastic about Labour.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Damien Egan, Kitchen, —, Brexit Party —, Keir Starmer, Chris Skidmore, Peter Bone, Sunak, Liz Truss, Brexit, Boris Johnson, John Curtice, ” “, ” Organizations: —, Labour Party, Wellingborough, Conservatives, Brexit Party, Labour, Conservative, European Union, University of Strathclyde, BBC Locations: England, Kingswood, Wellingborough

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt says the government can afford to lower some taxes now that inflation is falling, but that any cuts will come along with a squeeze on welfare benefits. British media have reported that there will be relief for businesses and wealthy property-owners in Hunt’s autumn budget statement on Wednesday. But he cautioned to broadcasters on Saturday that “there’s no easy way to reduce the tax burden. The most likely tax cuts are a reduction in corporation tax and slashing inheritance tax, a move that would help the wealthy. Only about 4% of estates have to pay inheritance tax.

Persons: Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, “, ” Hunt, Rishi Sunak’s, Liz Truss, Ken Clarke, “ I’m, ” Organizations: Treasury, Saturday's Daily Telegraph, Conservative, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative, Bank of England’s, Labour Party, Conservative Treasury Locations: Ukraine

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman railed against unauthorized migrants, human rights laws and "woke" critics of her hard-line policies Tuesday, as she tried to secure her place as the flag-bearer of the Conservative Party’s authoritarian law-and-order wing. Political Cartoons View All 1196 ImagesBraverman's speech to party activists contained little new policy and had the feel of an election rally. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are lagging behind Labour in opinion polls with an election due by the end of 2024. Many members attending the four-day conference are looking ahead to a leadership contest that would likely follow a defeat. Braverman makes some Conservatives worry the party is regaining its image as “the nasty party,” as former Prime Minister Theresa May once called it.

Persons: Suella Braverman, Braverman, ” Braverman, Rishi Sunak’s, ”, shouldn't, Theresa May, Sunak, “, Gideon Skinner, Ipsos, Andrew Boff, ” Sunak Organizations: Home, Conservative, Conservatives, Labour, Human, Englanders, Kingdom's, Delegates, London Assembly, Conservative Party, BBC Locations: MANCHESTER, England, Britain, Rwanda, Cambridge

☆ To fix Britain, Labour will need new debt rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Having fiscal rules – and sticking to them – is crucial for governments. The Bank of England expects anaemic GDP growth of 0.5% next year and 0.25% in 2025, and long-term growth of just 1%. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe Labour leadership is concerned that rewriting debt rules would unsettle bond investors still scarred by Truss’s fiscal follies. What Britain’s next government shouldn’t do is obsess about restrictive fiscal rules at the expense of investments that could get the country out of its current hole. The reports said that Sunak was looking at scrapping the portion of the project linking the northern cities of Manchester and Birmingham because costs have been soaring from the original 55.7 billion pounds to an estimated 106 billion pounds.

Persons: Grant Shapps, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, Keir Starmer, Worth ”, Ian Ball, Willem Buiter, John Crompton, Dag Detter, Jacob Soll, Crompton, Breakingviews, PSNW, –, Rachel Reeves, Labour’s, “, Reeves, Britain’s, Sunak, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Sunday, Sky News, Labour, Conservative, Bank of England, Sunak’s, Worth, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Britain’s, Thomson Locations: Britain, New Zealand, Zealand, Manchester, Birmingham

LONDON (AP) — British regulators on Wednesday approved new oil and gas drilling at a site in the North Sea, a move environmentalists say will hurt the country’s attempt to meet its climate goals. The U.K.'s North Sea Transition Authority said it had approved the Rosebank Field Development Plan, “which allows the owners to proceed with their project.”Britain’s Conservative government argues that drilling in the Rosebank field, northwest of the Shetland Islands, will create jobs and bolster the U.K.’s energy security. One of the largest untapped deposits in U.K. waters, Rosebank holds an estimated 350 million barrels of oil. The field is operated by Norway’s Equinor and the U.K. firm Ithaca Energy, which say they plan to invest $3.8 billion in the first phase of the project. The government says it still aims to reduce the U.K.’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Persons: ”, Norway’s Equinor, Caroline Lucas, Rosebank, Rishi Sunak’s, Sunak, Claire Coutinho Organizations: —, Transition, Conservative, Ithaca Energy, Green Party, Energy, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Locations: North, Shetland, Ukraine

☆ Rishi Sunak’s plans to delay climate targets attacked, as UK government pushes anti-green drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In an attack on his own Conservative predecessors as prime minister, Sunak said: “You don’t reach net zero simply by wishing it. The Climate Change Committee, the government’s independent adviser on climate change, published a report in June that criticized the UK’s net zero plans and said there was not enough urgency to reach the country’s goals. Britain is legally required to have reached net zero – meaning the country would remove from the atmosphere at least as much planet-warming pollution as it emits – by 2050. Johnson’s comments led a chorus of concerns from within Sunak’s Conservative party at the plans, which were apparently hurriedly brought forward after Tuesday’s leaks to the media. British businesses also criticized Sunak’s plans on Wednesday.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, ” Boris Johnson, ” Johnson, ”, Dan Kitwood, pushback Sunak, “ We’ve, ” Sunak, “, … I’ve, Alok Sharma, ” Sharma, Chris Skidmore, Rob Picheta, Mike Childs, Sunak’s, Lisa Brankin, Ed Matthew, ” “ Organizations: London CNN, United, Conservative, Labour, “, Sunak’s Conservative, BBC, PA Media, London's Labour, CNN, Ambition, UN, Ford, European Union Locations: Britain, United Kingdom, Glasgow, Sunak’s, London, Uxbridge, South Ruislip, New York, United States, China

☆ UK net-zero ‘pragmatism’ is an odd way to get real
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Yet official UK figures do not suggest the way to get real on climate change is to go any slower. Sunak himself has defended Britain’s record on climate and says he cares about reaching its 2050 net-zero target. As such the net cost of net zero may be more like 344 billion pounds over three decades, or perhaps only 0.4% of GDP per year. Policy certainty will meanwhile encourage foreign investors to help pay for Britain’s transition, reducing its exposure to gas price shocks. UK energy secretary Grant Shapps said on Aug. 2 that the government remained “absolutely committed” to hitting its net-zero carbon targets by 2050.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, dawdling, Andrew Forrest, ”, ” Sunak, Michael Gove, Grant Shapps, “, Neil Unmack, Streisand Neto, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Sunak’s Conservative Party, Budget, Reuters Graphics Reuters, ’, McKinsey reckons, Britain, Conservatives, Thomson Locations: Britain, London, China, United States, North

☆ U.K.’s New Alcohol Taxes Are Aimed at Keeping Pubs Open and Votes Flowing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Stephen Castle | More About Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, a teetotaler, dropped in on a west London beer festival on Tuesday, he was looking for votes rather than pints while promoting a government policy that he said would ease the financial squeeze on some of Britain’s drinkers. Yet not everyone is convinced by the new set of alcohol tax rates, which are expected to cut the cost of beer for pub-goers but which have angered many other Britons by raising the fees on most other alcoholic beverages. As Mr. Sunak served a pint of beer at the festival, one bystander heckled him, crying out: “Prime minister! Oh, the irony that you’re raising alcohol duty on the day that you’re pulling a pint.” Another thought Mr. Sunak needed reminding that the drink he was pouring was “not Coca-Cola,” Sky News reported. With high inflation rates eroding living standards in Britain, an election expected next year and Mr. Sunak’s Conservative Party trailing badly in the polls, his government was trying hard to put its best spin on what the new rules would mean for the average voter.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak Organizations: Sky News, Sunak’s Conservative Party Locations: London, Britain

☆ Rishi Sunak suffers two election losses as British voters reject ailing Conservative government
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Conservative Party lost to the resurgent Labour Party in Selby and Ainsty, a region in the north of England where the Sunak’s party had enjoyed a commanding majority. But the results indicate that the opposition Labour Party, which under the leadership of Keir Starmer is on course to clinch power when Sunak calls a general election. But in Selby, in the north of England, Labour overturned a huge deficit to win the seat with 46% of the votes, according to PA. The results amount to a significant rejection of Sunak’s Conservative Party, which has been in power for 13 years and has seen its opinion poll ratings nosedive towards the end of Johnson’s tenure, and since. Sunak will now look to steady his leadership and fight off any growing murmurs of a challenge within his party.

Persons: London CNN — Britain’s, Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, Sunak, Keir Starmer, Liz Truss’s shambolic, Steve Tuckwell, Johnson, “, Nigel Adams, Johnson’s, ” Organizations: London CNN, Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour, Conservative, Britain’s Press Association, Sunak’s Conservative Party Locations: Selby, Ainsty, England, Somerton, Frome, Uxbridge, South Ruislip

But Mr. Sunak is not expected to press for a free-trade agreement between the two nations. Earlier this year, with Mr. Biden’s urging, Mr. Sunak resolved a trade dispute with Northern Ireland, a move seen as positive by Mr. Biden’s administration. But British officials stressed ahead of Thursday’s meeting that Mr. Sunak intends to focus on expanding the economic connections between the two countries. Asked whether this was now a broken promise, Mr. Sunak rejected that assertion, telling Sky News that it reflected a changed macro economic situation after 2019. In reality, any prospect of a comprehensive deal faded some time ago, but political opponents seized on Mr. Sunak’s words on Thursday.

Persons: Biden, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, “, ”, Karine Jean, Pierre, Biden’s, ” Mr, we’ve, We’ve, Keir Starmer Organizations: British, White House, Trade, Union, Washington, Airbus, Boeing, Thursday, Sunak’s Conservative Party, Sky, United, Mr, Labour Party Locations: Britain, United States, Northern Ireland, “, Ukraine

☆ UK begins long and uncertain road back from Brexit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Britain is beginning the long and uncertain road back from Brexit. Changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol were inevitable. There’s still scope to improve Johnson’s trade deal, struck in 2019. The route back is uncertain, but the symbolic importance of the Northern Ireland deal is not. The agreement marks a “new chapter” in relations between the UK and European Union, Sunak said in a press conference.

☆ U.K. government to veto Scotland’s gender self-recognition law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Scottish government is likely to challenge the decision at the U.K. Supreme Court. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government “a full-frontal attack” on the Scottish parliament, which approved the bill last month. “The Scottish Government will defend the legislation and stand up for Scotland’s Parliament,” she said on Twitter. This is the first time a U.K. government has blocked a Scottish law since the Scottish government and parliament were established a quarter century ago. The move will provide fodder for nationalists who want Scotland to break away from the U.K. and become an independent country.

☆ Fiscal “black hole” obsession adds to UK problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

His government is preparing to fill what media reports now describe as a “black hole” in the country’s public finances, by raising around 50 billion pounds within five years. And while new Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has reversed many of Truss’ tax cuts, he’s kept measures worth some 17 billion pounds a year. The impact of his plan, based on the UK Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth forecast, will depend on its size, timing and structure. The bigger the adjustment to the public finances, which media reports reckon could be anywhere between 30 and 60 billion pounds, the larger its impact on growth. Talk of a “black hole” obscures the fact that Sunak and Hunt have multiple options.

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