Displaying items by tag: Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak is being investigated by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a possible failure to declare an interest and if a declaration he made was ‘open and frank’. His wife Akshata holds shares in Koru Kids childcare agency, which could benefit from a new policy unveiled in the spring Budget. It is a pilot of payments for childminders, with more for those who sign up through agencies. Akshata was listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids as recently as 6 March. On 28 March Mr Sunak did not mention her links to Koru Kids when he was questioned over the childcare policy at a parliamentary hearing. When he was asked whether he had any interest to declare, he replied, ‘No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way’. After the hearing, Mr Sunak sent a letter to the committee saying an updated statement of ministers' interests would be released shortly.

Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal with the EU to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol row, claiming that it doesn’t take back control from Brussels. The former PM is urging Sunak to consider using his bill to unilaterally override the protocol if it ‘doesn’t work’. He added, ‘I will find it very difficult to vote for something like this because I believe we should have done things differently no matter how much plaster came off the Brussels ceiling. We have got to hope it works.’ Boris said he understood why people want to move on from Brexit rows and accept the deal: ‘I get that.’ Meanwhile, the European Research Group said it could take two weeks for the Brexiteer group to carry out its own ‘legal audit’ of the deal. Mr Sunak wants to give the DUP and Tory Eurosceptics space and time to consider the deal before holding the commons vote.

Moments before he went into Downing Street for the first time as prime minister, Rishi Sunak said ‘this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.’ Three months later, he confronts issues challenging these promises. No PM wants a reputation for harbouring fixed penalty notices gathered whilst in office but being fined for not wearing a seatbelt was his second offence after his one as chancellor during the pandemic. The deputy prime minister has reportedly had 24+ civil servants make complaints against him. Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative Party Chairman, is determined to stay in post despite many unanswered questions over a £5m fine that was paid over a tax dispute while he was chancellor and that the prime minister knew about the whole thing.

Rishi Sunak wants all pupils to study maths until the age of 18, arguing that too many of the country’s children are being ‘let down’ by leaving school without the numeracy skills to prosper in the workplace. He is making a shake-up of education beyond the age of 16 one of the defining priorities of his early tenure in No 10. The reorganisation has been in the pipeline for a while and was addressed on 4 January, when Mr Sunak said that one of the biggest changes needed in education is to reimagine our approach to numeracy. Only half of all 16- to 19-year-olds study any maths at all, in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job. Future jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before. Around eight million adults in England have the numeracy skills of primary school children, according to Downing Street.

Rishi Sunak is the first British Asian prime minister and the youngest PM for over 200 years. During the past two weeks of Government ups and downs the parliament lunchtime church services continued with the themes ‘A character of enduring faithfulness’ and ‘A character of enduring trust’. These services give opportunities for reflection in the midst of parliamentary uncertainty. We can pray for Rishi Sunak and all parliamentarians based on these themes, asking God to give them abundant grace towards each other. Where there was bickering, may there be forgiveness and peace. May each of them serve with integrity and honesty so that the nation can trust them. Pray that their words and deeds would please God, and should setbacks arise in these difficult times may they have heaven's wisdom to press on and achieve heaven’s objectives for the UK. Ask God to give the strategies needed to move the nations in the right direction.

During his time as a minister, and especially in the battle to succeed Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and his team have sought to present the wealthy former banker as someone nonetheless in touch with the concerns of voters. But his habit of awkward interactions with the everyday world continued when he told a TV show that he and his daughters liked the breakfast wrap at McDonald’s, saying, ‘It’s what we do.’ However, a McDonald’s spokesman confirmed the chain stopped selling breakfast wraps in March 2020. A photo shoot for the budget, when he was still chancellor, showed Sunak at a petrol station filling up a car that later turned out to be borrowed. He was also pictured trying to pay by holding his bank card up to a barcode scanner, rather than the payment machine.

At his spending review on 25 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s plans for public spending. It is an important fiscal event, with decisions made over hundreds of billions of pounds of public money. It is also an important political event, as the government sets out relative priorities and allocates funding towards achieving its policy objectives. The initial reaction from the Institute for Fiscal Studies was this: ‘Rishi Sunak has been spending truly astonishing amounts of money this year and plans to continue to do so next year in response to Covid. Yet this was a spending review in which he reduced planned spending into the future, cutting over £10 billion from departmental spending plans next year and for subsequent years.’ (See also the next article.) Pray for the 1.3 million public sector workers who will see their pay frozen in 2021-2 and for the projected 2.6 million unemployed by spring. See

The Government has been criticised after announcing it will reduce its foreign aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5%. Rishi Sunak intends to return to 0.7% ‘when the fiscal situation allows’. Church leaders, politicians, and other public figures say the reduction was unnecessary and have taken to Twitter to express their opinions. The Archbishop of Canterbury tweeted, ‘The cut in the aid budget - made worse by no set date for restoration - is shameful and wrong. It’s contrary to numerous government promises and its manifesto. I join others in urging MPs to reject it for the good of the poorest, and the UK’s own reputation and interest.’ Baroness Liz Sugg has resigned as the minister for overseas territories because of the decision. The reduced aid budget will require a Commons vote: here is no assurance the Government will win. See also the article above, ‘Spending Review 2020’.

A new government scheme is enabling churches and charities to support some of the most vulnerable in the job market. The pandemic has disproportionately impacted those aged 18-24. Between March and August there was a 124% increase in claims for Universal Credit from people in this age group. With the economic future remaining uncertain, Rishi Sunak announced a new job creation scheme to help avoid damaging long-term employment for young adults. Dubbed the ‘kickstart scheme’, this package of support will subsidise the employment of 16 to 24-year-olds by providing six-month quality work placements that don’t cause existing employees or contractors to lose work; give a minimum of 25 hours per week for six months; paying at least the national minimum wage for their age group; and should not require people to undertake extensive training before they begin the job placement.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his first Budget in the House of Commons on 11 March. Parts of it appear to have been written at the last minute as coronavirus spreads across the nation. His spending plans include a £5bn emergency response to support the NHS and other public services with statutory sick pay for all who choose to self-isolate, even if they don't have virus symptoms. Benefit claimants will be able to claim sick pay on day one, not after a week, and there is a £500m hardship fund allocated to help vulnerable people. To try to save businesses from liquidation, firms with fewer than 250 staff will be refunded for sick pay payments for two weeks, and small firms will be able to access ‘business interruption’ loans of up to £1.2m. Business rates will be abolished for firms in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000.