For those who like to see signs in the stars and the like, the man just appointed by King Charles III to form a government arrived in Downing Street and had the resident of number 10 waiting in the street for him: Larry the cat. . The feline, also known as chef mouser (head rat hunter), he lived with four prime ministers before Rushi Sunak. At night, a fox wandered through the door of the Prime Minister’s residence and the seat of the British government. It was the end of a day when Liz Truss’ successor addressed fellow citizens, warning of what lay ahead, and chose a government team marked by continuity and some return, with representatives from the various factions of the Conservative Party.
With Larry in the background, Rishi Sunak, in his maiden speech to British Outsider 10, echoed the ideas he had left in his brief statements the day before after being hailed as party leader and, by extension, new prime minister. And it didn’t take a minute to tell him what he was going to do. “Right now, our country is facing a deep economic crisis. The effects of covid are still lingering. Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilized energy markets and supply chains around the world,” he began.
“[Liz Truss] wouldn’t be wrong to want to improve growth in this country. But some mistakes were made,” said Rishi Sunak.
Then he interrupted to pay a “tribute” to his predecessor, politely acknowledging the wrong path of his economic policy (as he had warned during the leadership campaign). “Is it there? [Liz Truss] was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble cause, and I admired your eagerness to effect change. But some mistakes have been made, not the result of ill will or bad intentions, on the contrary. But they were mistakes nonetheless and I was elected leader of my party and partly your prime minister to correct them.”
He said he would begin that work immediately and promised to “put economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda”. In other words, “this means making difficult decisions”. Announcing decisions that will affect Britain in advance – an increase in the tax burden is expected – Sunak assured that he will consider doing so “with the same compassion” with which he held the positions of finance minister during the crisis of the pandemic. He also assured that he will unite the country “not with words, but with deeds” and that his cabinet will be distinguished by “integrity, professionalism and responsibility” – the executives of the two previous leaders hardly fit this description.
Aware that 62% of voters are in favor of early elections and that a large majority would give their vote to the Labor Party, the new leader tried to legitimize his position, taking into account the parliamentary system. “I will always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible performance as Prime Minister, and I appreciate his affection and generous spirit. And I know he agrees that the mandate my party won in 2019 is not the exclusive property of one person. mandate from all of us and that unites us all. And the core of this mandate is our election manifesto,” he concluded.
However, Sunak did not remember that, in addition to striving for a full Brexit, the 2019 program promised major investments in infrastructure, in the national health service and in education, i.e. after the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the country’s financial position. this program is not feasible.
As for the government team, Rishi Sunak tried to give signs of continuity and pacification to the conservative party. Several Truss ministers remained in government, the most surprising being Suella Braverman, who sits inland, and Thérèse Coffey. The pastor’s right-hand man and friend leaves Health (to which Steve Barclay returns) and takes on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs folders. Penny Mordaunt, who has not received enough support to discuss leadership, remains Conservative leader in the House of Commons.
Labor pledges not to give a ceasefire. Representative Yvette Cooper criticized Braverman’s choice, who “stepped down due to a security flaw” and has now been reinstated. “It put the party at the head of the country,” he told Sunak.
Consensus and controversial
Jeremy Hunt
After being called on by Liz Truss to completely reverse Kwasi Kwarteng’s suicide policy and establish a budget that would stabilize the country’s finances, he retained Sunak’s confidence. It will be the face of austerity.
James Slim
The secretary of state was the first supporter of Truss — and of Boris Johnson’s return attempt — to be reappointed, a sign that Sunak intends to unite the party’s various factions.
Ben Wallace
It is the only reference of stability: Minister of Defense since July 2019, he will continue there thanks to a work praised inside and outside the party. Its continuity has been questionable as it will defend 3% of GDP for the sector by 2030, and Sunak is not looking forward to it.
Dominic Raab
He will return to the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General he played in the Johnson administration. A Sunak supporter, he called Truss’s plans “electoral suicide”.
Suella Braverman
During Johnson’s consulship, she was Truss’ Home Secretary until she slammed the door criticizing the then Prime Minister when she was forced to resign over a security breach (she emailed a confidential document to an alternate). Now he returns to the interior, where he will try to implement the plan to send undocumented immigrants to Rwanda, a policy also championed by Sunak.
Source: DN
