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☆ Liz Truss, Britain’s Prime Minister, Wants to Break America - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Tanya Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Liz Truss was the prime minister of Britain for 49 days in 2022, an interregnum between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak that was so short it was outlasted by a lettuce. If this were the 19th century, Ms. Truss would have perhaps exiled herself to a country estate where peacocks roamed the grounds or fought her enemies with pistols. (In 1809 the foreign secretary, George Canning, was wounded in a duel with the war minister.) A. Disgrace” — but was never really considered a likely leader of the Conservative Party until her predecessor Mr. Johnson almost burned the party down. (Even Mr. Canning, who survived his wounds and eventually became prime minister, lasted longer.

Persons: Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Queen Elizabeth II, George Canning, Truss, Truss’s, Margaret Thatcher, ”, Johnson, Canning Organizations: Liberal, Liberal Democrats, European Union, Conservative Party, Bank of England Locations: Britain

☆ Rishi Sunak: Everything seems to be going wrong for British PM
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Life must seem bleak for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak these days. Sunak has said that he will hold a general election this year, but has yet to confirm its date. It was only voted through by MPs because it has the support of the opposition Labour Party. Anderson is a working-class former miner who is from a part of the country that traditionally votes for the opposition Labour Party. However, Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party after making comments about the Muslim mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, that Sunak clearly believed were beyond the pale.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, –, Boris Johnson, Winston Churchill, It’s, ” Rishi Sunak, Dan Kitwood, Liz Truss, Lee Anderson, Anderson, Elon Musk, Tesla, Kirsty Wigglesworth, doesn’t, Sadiq Khan, Suella Braverman, Braverman, Johnson, Rishi, ” Sunak Organizations: CNN, British, Conservative Party, Labour Party, ”, Conservatives, Allies, Labour, Sunak's, SpaceX, Reuters, Conservative, “, Adidas Samba Locations: Quebec, London, Rwanda

☆ As Economy Sputters, U.K. Cuts Taxes Ahead of Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Eshe Nelson | More About Eshe Nelson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Last week, data showed that Britain’s inflation rate had dropped to 4.6 percent in October, and Mr. Sunak declared victory in his pledge to halve inflation this year. The government’s fiscal credibility was also severely damaged by the unfunded tax cuts of Liz Truss’s short premiership. When he was installed as chancellor a year ago, Mr. Hunt took a cautious approach to the nation’s money and abandoned nearly all of Ms. Truss’s plans. He said there was little scope for spending increases and tax cuts because debt levels needed to be cut and the government had to be careful not to stoke inflationary pressures. Now with the election in sight, Mr. Hunt has found the money to offer some sweeteners in the form of lower taxes and even a freeze on alcohol duty.

Persons: ” Mr, Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Liz Truss’s, Truss’s, Stephen Castle Organizations: Bank of England’s Locations: United States, Western Europe

☆ Suella Braverman fired as David Cameron returns to UK government
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The hardline Home Secretary Suella Braverman was fired early on Monday morning, after making inflammatory comments about the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in central London over the weekend. Cameron served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016, resigning after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that he had called. Unlike Braverman, neither Cleverly nor Cameron are likely to go off script and lash out at the police or protesters. Monday marks the second time in just over a year that Braverman has been sacked as home secretary. Under Sunak, Braverman spearheaded a heavily publicised push to clamp down on small boat crossings made by asylum-seekers.

Persons: London CNN — Britain’s, Rishi Sunak, David Cameron, Suella Braverman, Sunak, Cameron, Downing, James, Braverman, London’s, Braverman’s, ” Neil Basu, we’ve, King Charles, Alec Douglas, –, Edward Heath’s, “, ”, —, ” Cameron, Tories ’, Carl Court, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt, they’d, Liz Truss’s shambolic, lambasting “, Keir Starmer, ” Starmer Organizations: London CNN, Britain, European Union, Downing Street, Times, London, Sunak, BBC, Downing, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Tories, EU, Braverman, Human, Rwanda –, Conservatives, Labour Party Locations: London, Braverman, Downing, Westminster, Cameron, Rwanda, Britain, United Kingdom

☆ HS2: Britain's high-speed rail fiasco reflects grim economic reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Our plan will drive far more growth and opportunity here in the north than a faster train to London ever would,” he said Wednesday. Some of the alternatives Sunak highlighted were predicated on the delivery of HS2, said Henrietta Bailey, CEO of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce. “This is the biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure,” the High Speed Rail Group, which represents companies such as Siemens, Hitachi and Bombardier, said in a statement. “The decision … sends a hugely disappointing message about our commitment to completing major infrastructure projects in the UK,” said Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, which represents manufacturing firms. The country must hope that his latest policy reversal doesn’t deter investors and further undermine a struggling UK economy, perpetuating a doom-loop of weak growth and underinvestment.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, ”, Henrietta Bailey, Stephen Phipson, Mark Allen, ” Sunak, —, Liz Truss, he’s, Sunak blinked, James Mason, ” — Hanna Ziady Organizations: London CNN —, Leeds, Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, HS2 —, Conservative, Speed Rail Group, Siemens, Hitachi, Bombardier, Make, Investors, Treasury, Business Locations: England, United Kingdom, London, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Britain, West, North Yorkshire

☆ Britain’s Sunak issues rallying cry for a party that is already planning life without him
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

While the party establishment loathes Farage, Conservative members greeted him with open arms and requests for selfies after he arrived on Monday afternoon. The Conservative Party has always been a broad church, with competing factions jostling for supremacy. But Conservative Party members are rather different to the general public. Supporters applaud as Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the Conservative Party annual conference on Wednesday. Bookmakers' odds on the next UK general election are displayed outside the Manchester venue for the Conservative Party Conference on October 4, 2023.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, –, steadying, ” Sunak, Sunak, Nigel Farage, loathes Farage, Hannah McKay, Kemi Badenoch, don’t “, Justin Tallis, Jeremy Hunt, Jon Super, Brexit, Johnson, didn’t, “ He’s, ”, Braverman, Grant Shapps, Suella Braverman, James, Stefan Rousseau, Christopher Furlong, Rishi Organizations: England CNN — British, Conservative Party, Conservative, CNN, Conservatives, Euroskeptic, Independence Party, European Union, selfies, Britain's UK Independence Party, PM, Labour Party, European, Human, Labour, British, Getty, Conservative Party Conference Locations: Manchester, England, “, North, Midlands, London, Sunak

☆ 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

☆ ‘Argentina on the Channel.’ Mark Carney and Liz Truss clash over UK economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —When Liz Truss was briefly Britain’s prime minister a year ago, the world’s sixth-largest economy came close to resembling Argentina, a country plagued by financial and economic instability. Truss and her Brexit-backing allies have long argued that lower taxes and fewer regulations — akin to Singapore’s approach — would help kickstart sorely needed growth in the UK. Britain, for its part, is battling stubbornly high inflation, feeble economic growth and a rising public debt burden, which is the costliest to service among rich economies. At the time, Carney, who was head of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020, accused Truss’s government of “undercutting” the nation’s economic institutions. “Mark Carney is part of the 25-year economic consensus that has led to low growth across the Western world,” she said.

Persons: Liz Truss, Mark Carney, kickstart, Carney, “, Kwasi Kwarteng, Truss’s, undercutting, “ Mark Carney, ”, ” Truss, Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: London CNN, Bank of England, Institute for Government Locations: Argentina, United Kingdom, Montreal, Singapore, London

☆ U.K. Replaces Defense Secretary Ben Wallace With Grant Shapps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His replacement, Grant Shapps, a politically astute Conservative Party operative, has signaled that he would maintain Britain’s support for Ukraine. Mr. Shapps has held multiple cabinet posts and is a close ally of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, though he has far less foreign policy and security experience than Mr. Wallace. Mr. Wallace’s departure has been long in the works — he was floated by Downing Street in an unsuccessful bid for NATO secretary general — but Mr. Shapps’ appointment was a surprise. Mr. Shapps has already held no fewer than four ministerial posts in the past year, a tumultuous stretch for Britain’s government. Mr. Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, named him home secretary in the chaotic final days of her tenure.

Persons: Ben Wallace, Grant Shapps, Shapps, Rishi Sunak, Wallace, Mr, Wallace’s, —, Sunak’s, Liz Truss, Truss’s, Boris Johnson Organizations: White House, Pentagon, Ukraine, Russia, Conservative Party, NATO Locations: Ukraine

☆ 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

☆ Trounced, Conservatives Feel Voters’ Wrath in English Heartlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LITTLEWICK GREEN, England — Aged 22 and not long out of college, George Blundell never expected to win when he ran in municipal elections against a Conservative Party bigwig in a region long loyal to the Tories. But for a young, enthusiastic, former politics student it still seemed worth a shot. It’s not something you get to do every day, is it?” recalled Mr. Blundell, a member of the centrist Liberal Democrats, as he sipped a beer outside the village pub where he once washed dishes as a summer job. To his surprise, Mr. Blundell is now a councilor representing the area around Littlewick Green, having defeated the powerful incumbent in perhaps the biggest upset from local elections that have sent shock waves through Britain’s governing Conservative Party. Unhappy about Brexit and aghast at the economic chaos unleashed during Liz Truss’s brief leadership last year, traditional Conservative voters are deserting the party in key English heartlands, contributing to the loss of more than 1,000 municipality seats in voting this month.

☆ ‘A Trump tribute act’: Meet Suella Braverman, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s culture wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

London CNN —Late last year, after a breakneck ascent of British politics put her in charge of the country’s migration, crime and national security agenda, Suella Braverman revealed her political fantasy. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAnd she is an equally furious culture warrior, borrowing rhetoric from the American right when lambasting “woke” culture, transgender rights and climate protesters. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesIt is a stance that has drawn sharp criticism – including from within the traditional wing of Braverman’s Conservative Party. Should Braverman succeed at her next bid for the party leadership, her critics fear another rightwards shift in British politics. “She’s recognized that in the current political climate, her way of creating an impact… (is) positioning herself as a Trump tribute act.

☆ A flawed but useful economic model for a bleak age
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Modern Monetary Theory, which endorses unlimited government spending, was all the rage during the years of ultra-low interest rates. John Cochrane’s fiscal theory fits the bill. Cochrane, a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, recently published “The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level”. Not only are high interest rates incapable of arresting inflation, fiscal theory suggests they actually make the problem worse. Nor do bondholders operate with rational expectations, as fiscal theory suggests.

☆ Shadow banks: The other financial firms worrying investors and regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —The International Monetary Fund warned this week of “vulnerabilities” among so-called non-bank financial institutions, saying global financial stability could hinge on their resilience. The term encompasses financial firms, other than banks, that provide all manner of financial services, including lending to households and businesses. The sector has grown strongly since the global financial crisis in 2008, with its asset base expanding by 7% a year on average, according to FSB data. Non-banks that provide credit are known as “shadow banks,” although the term is often used imprecisely to mean all non-banks. Shadow banks now make up about 14% of the world’s financial assets and, like many non-banks, operate without the same level of regulatory oversight and transparency as banks.

☆ Bank of England calls for urgent action on funds that nearly toppled UK financial system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The Bank of England has called for urgent action to address a weak spot in the UK financial system as persistent worries about the global banking sector threaten to unleash fresh market turmoil. LDI crisisThe role of LDI funds in the UK financial system was thrown into the spotlight in the fall after the Truss budget triggered an unprecedented selloff in UK government bonds. This had an alarming knock-on effect on pension funds that had gone all in on liability-driven investment strategies. “We are monitoring events closely and their impact on financial markets, UK banks and UK economic conditions,” it said. The central bank added that UK banks were “resilient” and “currently healthy.” But it warned that other parts of the financial system might need bolstering.

☆ UK house prices post sharpest fall since 2012
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —UK house prices last month saw their biggest annual decline since November 2012, in the latest indication of the lasting pain that former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s ill-fated “mini” budget inflicted on Britain’s property market. The average price of a house fell 1.1% to £257,406 ($310,000) in February compared with a year earlier, taking UK house price growth into negative territory for the first time since June 2020, lender Nationwide said Wednesday. House prices have now declined for six months in a row and are 3.7% below their August 2022 peak, according to Nationwide’s index based on purchases involving a mortgage. “The economy has largely moved on from the mini budget, but the hangover for the UK housing market is more prolonged. Mortgage rates have started to fall but recent stronger-than-expected UK economic data could lead the Bank of England to keep interest rates higher for longer, causing the downward drift in mortgage rates to “stall,” he told CNN.

☆ The fog in the English Channel is clearing a bit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But if the two sides can resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland there could be progress on topics such as climate change, foreign policy and financial services. Resolving the dispute over the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol is the key to unlocking cooperation on a range of topics. But a deal on Northern Ireland could be. Johnson agreed to such a forum as part of the political declaration accompanying the Brexit deal but then abandoned it. “Fog in the Channel: Continent cut off” is a mythical UK newspaper headline which supposedly summed up Britain’s disdain for its neighbours.

The UK government has promised to overhaul the youth gender care system, after it was deemed inadequate by England’s regulator of health and social care. They described a deeply flawed system that is now hobbled by a toxic political climate around gender care. The letter said a decision would be made at some point from early 2022 on whether the child “is likely to meet the access criteria” for gender care. The family has received no NHS gender care or mental health support since the referral, she said. These recommended supporting “identity exploration” and mental health treatment as the first steps to ensure that any psychological issues are addressed.

☆ UK bond dealers see jump in gilt issuance for 2023/24 - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

However in the 2023/24 financial year, gilt issuance is expected to jump to 238 billion pounds, according to the median poll forecast, the second highest ever after the 486 billion pounds of issuance in 2020/21 to fund COVID-19 support measures. “It feels like there shouldn’t be too many surprises, but the gilt market remains febrile, and even small news could create oversized reactions,” he said. Gilt issuance is distinct from public sector net borrowing (PSNB), the main borrowing measure forecast by Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility. Here GEMMs expect PSNB, excluding public-sector banks, to rise to a median 187 billion pounds, almost double the 99 billion pounds forecast by the OBR in March. Next year it is forecast to fall to 142 billion pounds, versus an OBR forecast of 50.2 billion pounds.

☆ UK house prices fall as buyers count cost of mini-budget, property website Rightmove says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Asking prices for British residential properties are dropping and there are signs that the fallout from the "mini-budget" bond market rout is weighing on first-time buyers, property website Rightmove said on Monday. Asking prices for homes dropped 1.1%, or by 4,159 pounds ($4,886.41) month-on-month in the Oct. 9 - Nov. 5 period, after a 0.9% rise over the previous month, Rightmove said. But Rightmove said former prime minister Liz Truss’s growth plan, which triggered a steep rise in borrowing costs when it was announced in September, accelerated Britain’s property market slowdown. Rates have since eased back after the announcement of Rishi Sunak as prime minister calmed financial markets. In annual terms, property prices were up 7.2% in November, slowing from a rise of 7.8% the month before.

☆ Watch: The Fast Rise of Rishi Sunak, Britain’s New Prime Minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: A Timeline of Liz Truss’s 45 Days as U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss became the shortest-serving U.K. prime minister and the first since Winston Churchill to serve two monarchs when she resigned after just 45 days in power. WSJ’s David Luhnow explains how her premiership came crashing down. Photo illustration: Adele Morgan

☆ Rishi Sunak: U.K. Faces a ‘Profound Economic Challenge’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Rishi Sunak offers only temporary fix for UK woes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Now that Sunak has seen off an attempted return by wayward former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, yields are down to 3.7%. About 30 billion pounds of her 45 billion pounds of unfunded tax cuts have been already reversed, leaving a narrower 40 billion pound hole. But cheaper borrowing costs hastened by Sunak’s appointment should cut the gap to just 30 billion pounds, a UK budget expert told Breakingviews. Follow @gfhay on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSFormer finance minister Rishi Sunak will become Britain's next prime minister after winning the race to lead the Conservative Party. Former prime minister and rival Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest saying he could no longer unite the party.

☆ Watch: A Timeline of Liz Truss’s 45 Days as U.K. Prime Minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: China’s Ex-Leader Hu Jintao Escorted Out of Party Congress Footage shows former Chinese leader Hu Jintao being accompanied off stage at the Communist Party congress, where he was sitting next to President Xi Jinping. Beijing didn’t immediately return questions on what happened. Photo: Mark R Cristino/Shutterstock

☆ Watch: China’s Ex-Leader Hu Jintao Escorted Out of Party Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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