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LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is preparing to water down some of Britain's environmental commitments on Wednesday, saying the country must fight climate change without penalizing workers and consumers. “For too many years, politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs," Sunak said. U.K. greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 46% from 1990 levels, mainly because of the almost complete removal of coal from electricity generation. The government had pledged to reduce emissions by 68% of 1990 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Automakers, who have invested heavily in the switch to electric vehicles, expressed frustration at the government's apparent change of plan.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, backtrack, Prince William —, Doug Parr, ”, Parr, Mike Hawes, Lisa Brankin, Tara, Hargreaves Lansdown, ” Copp, Sadiq Khan, “ We’re, Suella Braverman, Alok Sharma Organizations: —, Conservative Party, United Nations General Assembly, Greenpeace, Society of Motor Manufacturers, Traders, Ford, ” Britain's, Labour, London’s Labour, BBC Locations: Britain, New York, London Uxbridge, Glasgow

☆ Britain has a new big problem: crumbling concrete in schools, hospitals, airports, and theaters
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The "crumbly concrete" was used in hundreds of schools and some have been shut over fears of collapses. The UK government said more than 100 schools faced closure because they contained reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a material typically used in roof planks and wall panels. AdvertisementAdvertisementOther structures such as hospitals, theaters, universities and some apartment buildings are also being checked for the concrete. Why was the concrete used? According to the think-tank the Institute for Government, those cuts are linked with schools' RAAC closures.

Persons: Matthew Byatt, RAAC, –, Chris Goodier, What's, Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak's, NAO, Gareth Davies, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Service, Health, Safety, National Audit Office, Guardian, Financial Times, of Structural Engineers, Labour, Loughborough University, Department for Education, Institute for Government, The Times, National Health Service, European Union Locations: Wall, Silicon, Heathrow, Gatwick, Kent, Sweden, London, he's, India

☆ Why Britain Needs to Build Again - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There’ll be books; it will linger onIn galleries; but all that remainsFor us will be concrete and tyres. Larkin wrote these words in 1972. On the basis of a trip through England and Scotland in summer 2023 I can report that his fears were premature. British conservatism, of which Larkin was an eccentric representative, has always had a stronger conservationist streak than its American cousin. The Conservative Party, in power for most of this period, is often blamed for backing post-financial crisis austerity and lurching into Brexit.

Persons: ” Philip Larkin, “, ”, There’ll, Larkin Organizations: Health Service, Conservative Party Locations: England, Scotland, Europe, United States, Britain, Italy, Brexit

Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered crushing defeats in the race for what had been two safe seats in Parliament, but narrowly avoided losing a third contest, according to the results early Friday for by-elections viewed as a critical test of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s popularity. The main opposition Labour Party won in Selby and Ainsty, in Yorkshire in the north of England, in one of its biggest ever by-election victories, overturning a large Conservative majority and winning 16,456 votes to the Tories’ 12,295. The small, centrist, Liberal Democrats party also scored an emphatic victory in the electoral district of Somerton and Frome, in the southwest of England, another former stronghold for the Tories. The Liberal Democrats received 21,187 votes, and the Conservatives 10,790. There, the final count was 13,965 votes for Steve Tuckwell of the Conservative Party, and 13,470 for Labour’s Danny Beales.

Persons: Rishi, Sunak, Boris Johnson, Steve Tuckwell, Danny Beales Organizations: Conservative Party, Labour Party, Conservative, Tories, Liberal Democrats, Liberal, Conservatives, Labour Locations: Selby, Ainsty, Yorkshire, England, Somerton, Frome, Uxbridge, South Ruislip, London

☆ Uxbridge by-election: In Boris Johnson's back yard, Britons are desperate for a change
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

A mid-term by-election to replace Johnson is taking place on Thursday, alongside two other by-elections to replace MPs elsewhere in the country. Boris Johnson is seen on a walkabout in Uxbridge in 2020, during his time as prime minister. Inside, the owner told CNN: "They're all the same ... Johnson’s company ran the first major opinion poll ahead of the Uxbridge by-election, which found a solid but assailable eight-point lead for Labour. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (far right) and Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (right) on a campaign visit with Danny Beales, the local Labour candidate (back center).

Persons: Mike Okoli, ”, Okoli, Boris Johnson –, Johnson, “, ” Okoli, Rob Picheta, CNN Johnson, Manoj Supeda, I’ve, hasn’t, ‘, ’ He’s, Supeda, Johnson’s, ” Supeda, “ It’s, ” Manoj Supeda, Tony Blair, Labour's, Brexit, CNN Okoli, he’s, “ I’ve, Sonia Caetano, Boris Johnson, Stefan Rousseau, there’s, ” Caetano, Danny Beales, We've, Caetano, Keir Starmer, Steve Reed, Piers Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn, Steve Tuckwell, ” Tuckwell, Reed, ” Reed, They’re, Mick, Starmer, “ We’re, we’re, ” James Johnson, Theresa May’s, Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, ” Tracy Peabody Organizations: United Kingdom CNN, European Union, CNN, Labour Party –, Tories, Labour, Conservatives, Britain, Uxbridge, Beales, London’s Labour, Conservative, Hillingdon Hospital, CNN ‘ Labour, “, Press Association Locations: Uxbridge, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Caribbean, London, South Ruislip, Britain, “, Okoli, Portuguese, Yiewsley, Portugal, Covid, Ukraine, Hillingdon, Ruislip Manor

☆ Britain’s Tories Expected to Face Election Losses - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A recent poll shows the Labour candidate ahead in Selby and Ainsty, where in 2019 Adams won more than 60 percent of the vote. In Somerton and Frome, the candidate of the centrist Liberal Democrat Party appears to have a strong chance of prevailing. Still, there’s a broad sense that, with national elections due sometime in the next 18 months, the Conservative Party is imploding. Yet in Britain, the right appears to be approaching something like free fall, with a recent poll showing Labour with a 21-point lead nationally. Less than four years ago, the party won its fourth consecutive national election by a staggering margin, leaving Labour, then led by the leftist Jeremy Corbyn, decimated.

Persons: Adams, ”, that’s, Joshua Simons, Emmanuel Macron, Le Pen, Jeremy Corbyn, Reed Organizations: Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative, BBC, Conservative Party, Financial, Conservatives, Labour Party, Tories Locations: Selby, Ainsty, Somerton, Frome, Europe, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Germany, Britain, Republic

☆ UK economy in growth 'doom loop' as business investment slumps versus G7 peers, think tank says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Decades of underinvestment by government and business have left Britain's economy in a growth "doom loop," according to center-left think tank IPPR. Decades of underinvestment by the government and businesses have left Britain's economy in a growth "doom loop," according to the U.K.'s Institute for Public Policy Research. New research from center-left think tank estimates that the U.K. has contributed $500 billion ($638 billion) less to business investments than did other comparable wealthy countries. The IPPR said that U.K. underinvestment in infrastructure, research and development, skills and training had spanned several decades and successive governments, dating back to 2005. "The U.K. is in an investment and growth doom loop.

Persons: Luke Murphy, —, IPPR, George Dibb, pare Organizations: for Public Policy Research, OECD, IMD, CNBC, Conservative Party, International Monetary, Biden, Labour Party —, Tories Locations: Poland, Luxembourg, Greece, IPPR

☆ Another Blow to Boris Johnson as U.K. Parliament Ratifies Damning Report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Mark Landler | Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Still, however tortured the deliberations, the outcome was a damning verdict for Mr. Johnson. It foreclosed — at least for the moment — any plausible return to power for a flamboyant figure whose three years in Downing Street were marked by a landslide electoral victory in 2019 but nearly ceaseless scandals after that. After more than five hours of discussion lawmakers voted by 354 to 7 to approve the report, a crushing victory for Mr. Johnson’s critics. In a debate marked by sorrow, anger and occasional flashes of humor, lawmakers from both sides stood up to condemn Mr. Johnson for his duplicity and to call for Parliament to endorse the report, as a way of rebuilding trust in British public life. A handful of Tories spoke in defense of Mr. Johnson, a shrunken band of loyalists for a figure who once enjoyed firm command of the House of Commons.

Persons: Johnson, Johnson —, Johnson’s, Theresa May, ” “, Mrs, May Organizations: Conservative Locations: Downing

☆ 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.

☆ Opinion | They Wrecked Britain, and They’re Not Going Anywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Samuel Earle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — As Britain prepares for the coronation of its new king, an end-of-days feeling is sweeping the nation. The Conservative Party is polling 15 points behind the opposition, and the popularity of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives’ fifth leader in seven years, remains obstinately low. No matter what happens in the next election, the historic vessel of Britain’s ruling class is not going anywhere. By many accounts, the Conservative Party is not just the oldest but also the most successful political party in the world. Next year, Tony Blair will be the only Labour leader to have won an election in half a century.

The contracted use of hotels was envisioned as a temporary measure, but adds strain to the asylum accommodation system. The cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has increased over the past year, now exceeding £6 million ($7.4 million) a day, the Home Office told CNN in a statement. On Tuesday, the UK Home Office also said Afghans who have been living in temporary UK accommodation for 18 months will be given three months’ notice to move out of so-called bridging hotels. There are currently around 8,000 Afghans living in 59 bridging hotels in the UK, according to the Home Office. But campaigners also warned that the plan could exacerbate the trauma experienced by people displaced by political strife and conflict in Afghanistan.

☆ Setting out growth plan, UK opposition Labour warn Britain is in downward spiral
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer prepares for his speech to delegates at Britain's Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, Britain, September 26, 2022. Labour has promised to ensure Britain has the fastest growing economy among the G7 on a sustained basis if it wins power. Britain's economy narrowly avoided a recession according to data published earlier this month, but faces a difficult 2023 as the effects of double-digit inflation hit households. Labour cited the latest available World Bank data showing Gross Domestic Product per capita in Britain at $44,979 in 2021 and $34,915 in Poland. The party said that, based on average 0.5% annual growth between 2010 and 2021 in Britain, that figure would fall behind Poland's per capita GDP by 2030 if Poland kept up its 3.6% average annual growth.

☆ UK's shortest-serving PM Liz Truss blames economic 'orthodoxy' for downfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Liz Truss blamed on Sunday the economic "orthodoxy" in the country's finance ministry, other nations and in parts of the governing Conservative Party for derailing her premiership and "plan for growth". But she was not successful, she wrote, because she had underestimated "the blob of vested interests" and orthodoxy. "As I had spelled out during the leadership campaign, I wanted to go for growth ... But this was not in line with the instinctive views of the Treasury (finance ministry) or the wider orthodox economic ecosystem." Grant Shapps, business minister, said everyone wanted lower taxes but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government had to focus on reducing debt, bringing down inflation and boosting growth first.

☆ 2022 was the year the Overconfidence Man fell back to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Maureen Tkacik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Naturally, Elon Musk, the platonic ideal of the peculiar self-aggrandizing, self-parodying personality type that thrived during the Trump years and peaked during the pandemic, tops this list. By 2022, the media had pronounced him variously the next Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan and Charles Koch. "bye bye @trussliz Congrats to lettuce", tweeted Putin's one-time stand-in Dmitry Medvedev, to which Elon Musk could not resist replying, "pretty good troll tbh." Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in March 2020. Elon MuskIt's weird to recall now that Elon Musk once seemed like, graded on the billionaire curve anyway, a net positive for a cursed American society.

☆ UK Labour's Starmer supports plans to spread power away from Westminster
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - British opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer will on Monday support plans to spread power away from the political centre of Westminster, aiming to offer people more control over their lives and local politicians a greater say on transport, housing and jobs. Starmer, whose centre-left Labour Party is leading the governing Conservative Party in opinion polls, is moving to outline his agenda to show voters how he might govern before an election widely expected to be held in 2024. In response to the government's effort to "level up" the country by tackling regional inequalities, Starmer will say this can only be achieved by delivering "the biggest ever transfer of power from Westminster to the British people". Starmer will say there would now be a consultation on the proposals. "Now, if you dig beneath the data, I'd be worried if I was Keir Starmer, because if you look at his numbers, it's very soft."

☆ 'Unite or die': The UK's new prime minister scrambles to save the Conservative Party
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed his cabinet to include members from across warring factions of the Conservative Party. LONDON — Britain has a new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who, in his inaugural speech outside Downing Street, vowed to "unite" the country as it faces myriad challenges. In doing so, he also pledged to unify the deep divisions within his own ruling Conservative Party — a group on whose support he desperately depends if he's to succeed in his new role. The Conservative Party — which has been in power in the U.K. since 2010 — has grown increasingly fractured since the 2016 Brexit vote, which splintered the party across ideologically opposed factions. The party now realizes the consequences of being divided are huge — and potentially fatal.

We now have our third Tory prime minister in seven weeks — Rishi Sunak, a former finance minister. But perhaps one of the most head-scratching moments of this whole ordeal was how Boris Johnson’s supporters were pushing for him to make a comeback following Liz Truss’ disastrous 44 days as prime minister. He won by default without the vote being decided online by all Conservative Party members, as planned. Of course, limiting the decision of a new prime minister to the members of one party alone is undemocratic. That just scratches the surface of the damage he did as prime minister.

☆ Fact Check-Social media users misinterpret graphic on Penny Mordaunt’s social media accounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users have misinterpreted a graphic posted on Penny Mordaunt’s social media accounts about the Conservative MP being “most trusted (to provide) a fresh start” for her party when compared to Rishi Sunak. A graph shared by Mordaunt states that 57% of people trust her to provide the Tories with a fresh start, whereas 44% trust Rishi Sunak with the same (here and here). One was: “Do you think Rishi Sunak would represent a fresh start?”, to which 44% replied “yes”, 45% said “no”, and 11% responded “don’t know”. The other was: “Do you think Penny Mordaunt would represent a fresh start?”, to which 57% replied “yes”, 28% said “no”, and 15% responded “don’t know”. The graphic posted on Penny Mordaunt’s social media accounts is based on two different questions.

☆ 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.

☆ Boris Johnson May Be the Last Best Hope of the Tories
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Dominic Green | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The resignation of Liz Truss after only 45 days in office and even fewer in power means that by next Friday, Britain will have had three prime ministers in a single year for the first time since 1827. This rapid turnover at the top has happened before in Britain through the sudden death of the incumbent (George Canning in 1827, Andrew Bonar Law in 1922). It would be even more remarkable if two of this year’s three prime ministers were to be the same person: Boris Johnson. Political parties in the modern sense barely existed in Lord North’s day; there were only factions. And there isn’t much of a Conservative Party now, only factions.

☆ Twitter is bowing down to Larry the Cat, Downing Street's Chief Mouser, for outlasting 4 prime ministers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Larry the cat is Downing Street's Chief Mouser, and has worked there since February 15, 2011. When Truss leaves office, Larry the Cat will have outlasted four prime ministers. Larry, the official cat at the British prime minister's 10 Downing Street residence, holds the title of Chief Mouser. "The King has asked me to become Prime Minister because this nonsense has gone on long enough," read a tweet from the account on Thursday. One Twitter user posted a photoshopped image of Larry in front of a crowd holding signs that reads: "Larry for Leader."

LONDON — Her tenure as Britain’s prime minister began in the early days of fall, but it didn’t even last until winter. The plan was criticized not only by the opposing Labour Party, but also President Joe Biden and the International Monetary Fund. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and British Prime Minister Liz Truss attend the annual Conservative Party conference on Oct. 2. Truss told Parliament on Wednesday, “I am a fighter, not a quitter,” after repeatedly being told she was unfit for office by opposition lawmakers. Under an expedited process, leadership challengers must win the support of 100 fellow Conservative Party lawmakers (out of a total of 357) by Monday afternoon.

☆ British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after economic plan sparked turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced Thursday that she would resign after just six weeks in office, following a disastrous and rapidly reversed economic plan that sent the pound plunging and her government into chaos. Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside No. She ended the brief statement by saying: "I will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen." Liz Truss is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Her personal approval rating fell to minus 70, according to pollsters at YouGov, making her the most unpopular party leader in British history.

☆ Boris Johnson may eye an unlikely comeback after Liz Truss resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Boris Johnson may run to lead Britain's Conservative Party, sources told multiple news outlets. The former prime minister resigned as leader over the summer and was replaced by Liz Truss. Truss's own resignation this week after just a few weeks in office has him eyeing a comeback, per reports. On Thursday, hours after Truss resigned, The Times of London reported that Johnson "is expected to stand" in the next Tory leadership contest, citing unnamed sources. Truss was chosen as the Tory leader after the question was put to Conservative Party activists.

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