Displaying items by tag: Rishi Sunak

Suella Braverman is facing a backlash after claiming police 'play favourites' with pro-Palestinian protests. Downing Street did not clear the controversial article in which the home secretary criticised the policing of pro-Palestinian marches in London. The prime minister is facing calls to sack Ms Braverman from her position in Cabinet from top Labour shadow ministers and the leader of the Liberal Democrats. The backlash comes after the publication of Ms Braverman's opinion piece in The Times, in which she accused the police of having a softer approach towards left-wing protests. A spokesman for Rishi Sunak said, 'The Prime Minister continues to believe that the police will operate without fear or favour’. Members of the Tory party have also attempted to distance themselves from her 'inflammatory rhetoric', with transport secretary Mark Harper actively disagreeing with her on Times Radio. She also criticised plans for a protest in London on Armistice Day, repeating allegations that its organisers were linked to Hamas and describing them as 'disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster'. She also claimed that pro-Palestinian mobs are 'largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law'. Earlier, the PM accepted that the planned march on Saturday would go ahead despite opposition from himself and the home secretary.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak is on a two-day trip to Israel and other Middle East countries, planning to urge leaders in the region to prevent further escalation of conflict. On 19 October he met prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then flew on to Saudi Arabia. This trip, following on from Joe Biden’s visit, comes after the recent missile strike on Al Ahli Hospital, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians. The UK is also pushing for the opening of the route into Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and the safe passage of British nationals out of Gaza. Meanwhile, foreign secretary James Cleverly travelled to Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar to seek humanitarian access to Gaza and the release of British hostages. The UK government has announced a £10 million aid package to support vulnerable civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with half of the funding going to the UN to address critical needs in Gaza. Defence secretary Grant Shapps also met with his US counterpart to coordinate responses to the crisis.

Rishi Sunak has unveiled a plan to increase the legal smoking age by one year every year, describing it as the ‘most significant public health intervention in a generation’. This initiative has the potential to substantially reduce smoking among young people by as early as 2040. Sunak emphasised the critical importance of addressing smoking, stating that it is the leading preventable cause of death, disability, and illness in society. He argued that there is ‘no safe level of smoking’ and defended the move against concerns about individual choice. The Government anticipates that these measures could result in up to 1.7 million fewer people smoking by 2075. Sunak stressed the need to prevent teenagers from taking up smoking, as the majority of smokers start before the age of 20. In addition to cracking down on smoking, the Government also plans to examine and regulate the availability and marketing of vaping products, especially to children. The goal is to reduce the attractiveness of vaping to young people while providing an alternative to smoking for current smokers.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has defended the country's commitment to its net-zero targets despite criticism from the government's Climate Change Committee (CCC). In response to concerns about the UK's approach to climate change, Sunak emphasised his confidence in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. However, the recent overhaul of green policies, including a five-year delay in the ban on new petrol and diesel cars, has faced backlash, with the CCC stating that it sets the country back. Sunak framed these policy changes as pragmatic, emphasising the costs of low-carbon technology. The debate highlights the tension between political priorities and climate objectives. Critics argue that these alterations could hinder the UK's ability to meet legally binding climate goals. The controversy comes amid the backdrop of preparations for an expected general election, with the Conservative Party, under Sunak's leadership, seeking to create distinctions between itself and opposition parties.

Downing Street has refused to guarantee that HS2 will run to Manchester as planned. Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are in talks about scrapping the project’s second phase due to spiralling costs and delays. The prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters that ‘spades are already in the ground on our HS2 programme, and we are focused on delivering it’. Asked whether Mr Sunak was committed to the line going to Manchester, he said: ‘We are looking at the rephasing of the work in the best interests of passengers and taxpayers’. Northern leaders reacted with fury to the news. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham accused ministers of ‘making the north pay for their failure’. The high-speed railway, currently under construction between London and Birmingham, has already had its leg to Leeds cut and faces uncertainty about its approach into central London.

Asmaryan eats potatoes for every meal. He lives with 120,000 other ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. They are cut off from Armenia by the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the only road in or out of Nagorno-Karabakh. They are under siege, with little food, essential medicines, hygiene products, baby formula, or fuel. Residents believe Azerbaijan wants to starve them into submission so that if or when the road reopens, they leave. It is a slow-motion genocide, with hunger the weapon. Asmaryan said outsiders don’t care about Karabakh as they have no natural resources: ‘They talk about human rights but do nothing.’ However, the Archbishop of London’s Coptic Orthodox Church, the Primate of the Armenian Church of the UK, the Bishop of Southwark, and other church leaders have written an open letter to Rishi Sunak urging immediate action to open the Lachin Corridor and prevent genocide. Also, Armenians will demonstrate in Yerevan on 2 September to express unity with Nagorno-Karabakh.

Junior doctors began a five-day strike on 13 July. It is the longest walkout in the NHS’s history. The strikes are being held even though the government has accepted recommendations from pay review bodies for teachers, civil servants and NHS workers, for pay rises of between 5% and 7%. BMA leaders are urging the Government to return to the negotiating table to resolve the situation that has led to thousands of cancelled operations and consultations. BMA leaders Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said, ‘We can call this strike off today if the Government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with. Their refusal to talk with junior doctors who have strikes planned is out of keeping with all norms of industrial action.’

As another scandal hits the Tory party, its MPs are even more gloomy about how the Prime Minister can project the government as honest and professional. MPs endorsed a report saying that Boris Johnson lied over Partygate. But 225 of Boris’s former Conservative MP colleagues were absent, including Rishi Sunak who has not said if he agrees or disagrees with the report’s findings. See Eight months into Boris’s leadership, he faced Covid. Eight months into Rishi’s leadership, he struggles to distance himself from the Conservative chaos and deliver a government of ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’ as he promised in October. A former cabinet minister said, ‘We can’t sell a vision to the public if Rishi doesn’t have one himself. He needs to think big, be creative, and articulate a dream the public will want to live by.’ Pray for Rishi Sunak to have heaven's wisdom in the current crisis.

The UK has agreed to send hundreds of long-range missiles and armed drones to Ukraine. This is on top of last week's decision to provide Kyiv with Storm Shadow cruise missiles. These moves mean the UK is going further than any other country in providing weapons with the potential to tip the war in Ukraine's favour. President Zelenskyy met Rishi Sunak at Chequers for two hours of talks as part of his tour of Western allies in preparation for the much-anticipated counter-offensive against Russia. If Ukraine can destroy Russia's command centres, logistics hubs and ammunition depots in occupied territory, it may prove impossible for Moscow to continue resupplying its frontline troops. Mr Zelenskyy said the Ukraine and UK are ‘real partners’.

Marriages between men and women were ‘the only possible basis for a safe and successful society’, said Christian MP Danny Kruger at the National Conservatism Conference in Westminster. In his speech, he emphasised the Christian notion of marriage as ‘a public act that wider society should recognise and reward’. But Mr Sunak's spokesman said although some ministers chose to speak at the event, that did not mean the Government endorsed its agenda. The remarks causing concern to Downing Street saw Mr Kruger making a bold defence of a traditional theological understanding of matrimony: ‘The normative family - held together by marriage, by mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children and the sake of their own parents and for the sake of themselves - this is the only possible basis for a safe and successful society.’