Tag: Rishi Sunak

  • “Change begins now,” Labour’s Keir Starmer on winning UK elections

    “Change begins now,” Labour’s Keir Starmer on winning UK elections

    Keir Starmer from Britain’s Labour has pledged to change UK as the next Prime Minister after his party won big in parliamentary elections on Friday, putting an end to 14 years of Conservative rule in the country.

    “The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” a sombre-looking Rishi Sunak said in his speech after the results came out.

    Rishi called the results “sobering” as he took responsibility for the defeat.

    “Change begins now,” Starmer said in a victory speech.

    “We said we would end the chaos, and we will, we said we would turn the page, and we have. Today, we start the next chapter, begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country.”

    At a triumphant party rally in central London, Starmer, 61, cautioned that change would not come overnight, even as Labour snatched a great number of Tory seats around the country, including from nine Cabinet members, and former prime minister Liz Truss. Truss lost in her rural constituency by a slim margin of 630 votes.

    How did the elections go?

    Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat parliament.

    An exit poll for UK broadcasters published after polls closed on Thursday put Labour on course for a return to power for the first time since 2010, with 410 seats and a 170-seat majority.

    The Tories will get only 131 seats in the House of Commons—a record low—with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party.

    Esteemed journalist in an article for his platform Zeteo wrote, “Goodbye to the party that helped unleash shameful levels of racism and hate against both migrants and minorities, with not just Brexit but “Go Home” vans and the Rwanda plan; bigoted rhetoric about “swarms” of migrants and citizens of nowhere.”

    What will happen to the government?

    Sunak will tender his resignation to head of state King Charles III, with the monarch then asking Starmer, as the leader of the largest party in parliament, to form a government.

    To-do list for next government

    Starmer took over the party post-Brexit in 2020 and had aimed to bring it to the centre again.

    Starmer is facing a daunting to-do list, with economic growth anaemic, public services overstretched and underfunded due to swinging cuts, and households squeezed financially.

    When it comes to Gaza, he is on the same page as Rishi Sunak, emphasising support for Israel’s right to defend itself while maintaining the recognition of a two-state solution. However, Starmer has said he would review arms sales to Israel but has also not made a pledge to suspend any.

    Additionally, Starmer has shown its determination to scrap the UK’s Controversial Rwanda Bill for asylum seekers that was introduced to deport illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda.

  • UK PM Sunak calls general election for July 4

    UK PM Sunak calls general election for July 4

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday set a general election date for July 4, ending months of speculation but not the doom-laden forecasts about the size of the government’s expected defeat.

    The poll will be the first time Sunak, 44, faces the public while in charge, after he was appointed leader of the largest party in parliament by Conservative MPs in October 2022.

    The vote — the third since the Brexit referendum in 2016 — comes as Sunak seeks to capitalise on better economic data to woo voters hit by cost-of-living rises.

    Halving inflation within a year from historic highs of above 11 percent at the end of 2022 was one of the former financier’s five key pledges.

    That happened last year and on Wednesday rates slowed to a near three-year low at 2.3 percent, prompting finance minister Jeremy Hunt to declare: “This is proof that the plan is working.”

    Sunak, in a Downing Street statement made in driving rain after he gathered his top ministers, said he had spoken to head of state King Charles III and requested the dissolution of parliament.

    “The king has granted this request and we will have a general election on July 4,” he said, adding: “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.”

    Parliament will be prorogued — suspending the current session — on Friday, then formally dissolved next Thursday, before campaigning begins.

    Keir Starmer, whose resurgent Labour party is widely tipped to win power in a landslide, called the vote a chance to “turn the page” on 14 years of Tory “chaos”.

    Bounce?

    Political commentators have increasingly suggested that Sunak could try to seek a pre-election bounce from the healthier economic outlook.

    But critics point out that it is more to do with changes in the global economy than government policy.

    Sunak had previously batted back all efforts to name a date, saying only that he would go to the country in the second half of this year.

    Speculation mounted again after Sunak and his top officials on Wednesday refused to deny fresh talk that he was about to call an election on the back of the more positive data.

    Rumours went into overdrive when Foreign Secretary David Cameron was recalled from a trip to Albania and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps delayed a trip to eastern Europe to attend a cabinet meeting.

    Hunt also cancelled a scheduled television interview for Wednesday evening, ITV’s political editor said, as journalists, photographers and camera crews flocked to Downing Street.

    Uphill task

    The economy — hit by external factors such as Covid and more self-inflicted wounds such as Brexit and former premier Liz Truss — will be a key battleground.

    But Sunak faces an uphill task to convince the public that the country’s finances are still safe in Tory hands after 14 years in power.

    Sunak has tried to steady the ship since succeeding Truss, whose 49-day tenure ended after her unfunded tax cuts sent household bills soaring, spooked the markets and crashed the pound.

    Immigration — another key issue since the government’s vote-winning pledge to “take back control” of Britain’s borders after Brexit — remains politically troublesome.

    Sunak — the Tories’ fourth leader since 2016 — has talked tough to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants crossing the Channel from northern France.

    But his controversial scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has yet to get off the ground, as costs and legal challenges mount.

    Starmer’s Labour has meanwhile been consistently ahead of the Tories by 20 points for almost two years.

    “It really is Labour’s to lose at this stage,” finance worker Stephen Mann, 55, told AFP in central London.

    Wipe-out?

    Desperate polling for Sunak has sparked talk of a landslide similar to the first of Tony Blair’s three election victories for Labour in 1997 — and even a near wipe-out for the Tories.

    Starmer, 61, and his top team have in recent weeks been honing their election pitch, nearly five years after the party was thrashed by Boris Johnson and his vow to “Get Brexit Done”.

    Last week, Starmer set out six key pledges that were notably more electorally friendly than the hard-left policies of his divisive predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.

    Starmer, a pro-European centrist, promised economic stability, shorter health service waiting times and a new border security command to tackle irregular immigration.

    He also vowed to establish a publicly owned clean energy company, crack down on anti-social behaviour with more neighbourhood police and recruit 6,500 new teachers.

    pdh-phz/bc

    © Agence France-Presse

  • UK parliament debates law phasing out smoking

    UK parliament debates law phasing out smoking

    London, United Kingdom – The UK parliament on Tuesday kicked off its first debate on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s planned flagship legislation to prevent young people from smoking, despite opposition from many in his own Conservative Party.

    The law would ban the selling of tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009 –- effectively raising the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population.

    “This has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040,” the government said when it unveiled the plan, calling the move “historic”.

    While the law looks set to pass thanks to support from opposition parties — including Labour, which is expected to win a general election due this year — Sunak faces the prospect of a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs.

    The beleaguered leader has little political capital to expend within his fractured party as he struggles to revive its fortunes following months of dire polling.

    Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer and opinion polls show that around two-thirds of people in the UK back a phased smoking ban.

    However, libertarian-leaning MPs on the right of the ruling Conservatives, including former prime minister Liz Truss, have branded the move an attack on personal freedoms.

    Conservative MP Simon Clarke told BBC radio that he was “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the plans.

    “I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive, I think it actually risks making smoking cooler, it certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating a unmanageable challenge for the authorities,” he said.

    Former prime minister Boris Johnson also said at an event in Canada last week it was “mad” that the party of Winston Churchill was “banning cigars”.

    Vaping clamp down

    Opening the debate for the government, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the House of Commons that there is “no liberty in addiction”.

    “Nicotine robs people of their freedom to choose. The vast majority of smokers start when they are young, and three quarters say that if they could turn back the clock they would not have started,” she said.

    MPs are due to vote on whether to approve the plans for the next stage of the legislative process on Tuesday evening.

    Conservative MPs have been given a free vote, meaning they are able to defy the government without fear of being suspended from the party.

    Westminster watchers will closely study the size of the rebellion to see what it suggests about Sunak’s authority, amid reports that some cabinet members are considering voting against.

    The proposed ban was supposedly inspired by a similar plan in New Zealand which was later dropped.

    Official figures show smoking causes about one in four deaths from cancer and leads to 64,000 deaths in England per year.

    “If parliament passes this new bill, it will put the UK at the very forefront of the fight to eradicate one of the most harmful inventions of modern times,” said Lion Shahab, co-director of the tobacco and alcohol research group at University College London.

    The legislation also seeks to clamp down on young people vaping by restricting flavours and packaging to make less appealing to children.

    jwp-pdh/jj/yad

    © Agence France-Presse

  • Zahid Ahmed calls Netanyahu ‘terrorist’; Instagram deletes post

    Zahid Ahmed calls Netanyahu ‘terrorist’; Instagram deletes post

    Pakistani actor Zahid Ahmed is not happy with Instagram after the social media site deleted his post about supporting Palestinians in their struggle against genocide.

    Zahid Ahmed wrote a message on Instagram, telling everyone that the site took down his earlier post. “Never thought this would happen to me, Instagram deleted my last post in which Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden were called real terrorists.”

    The actor slammed the site, writing, “Instagram, I’d love to see you burn in hell on the day of judgment.”

    A few days ago, the actor shared a post on Instagram and Facebook with a picture of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with the Afghan Taliban and  US President Joe Biden.

    “We were forced to believe that this is what terrorists look like when the world now knows what terrorists look like,” was written on the picture.

    This post is still visible on Facebook.

    Over 18,797 Palestinians have lost their lives in Israeli bombing on Gaza since October 7. More than 50,000 people have been injured, and over 7,780 are missing, presumed dead under the rubble. More than 253,000 houses have been partly damaged, and over 52,000 houses have been completely destroyed while 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced.

  • UK’s Rishi Sunak said Britain should ‘let people die’ during Covid

    UK’s Rishi Sunak said Britain should ‘let people die’ during Covid

    A recent inquiry into Britain’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that Rishi Sunak believed that the government should “just let people die” rather than impose a second national lockdown.

    The concerning statement by Rishi Sunak was quoted in a hearing on Monday about UK’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that shut down large sections of the economy and killed more than 220,000. The explosive claim was made by Patrick Vallance, the former chief scientific adviser to the government. He claimed that the then-finance minister Sunak said during a meeting with then-prime minister Boris Johnson, that the government should “just let people die” rather than impose a second national lockdown.

    Vallance noted this down in a meeting in his diary on October 25, 2020, which was presented to the inquiry on Monday. The incident was relayed to him by Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s most senior adviser during the pandemic, relayed to Vallance what he had heard at the meeting.
    Vallance quoted Cummings in his diary as saying: “Rishi thinks just let people die and that’s okay. This all feels like a complete lack of leadership.”
    According to a spokesperson for Sunak, the prime minister would set out his position when he gives evidence to the inquiry “rather than respond to each one in piecemeal”

  • Muslim dating app ‘Muzz App’ offers to pay legal fee of woman detained for calling Rishi Sunak coconut

    Muslim dating app ‘Muzz App’ offers to pay legal fee of woman detained for calling Rishi Sunak coconut

    A woman in England went viral on social media when she was spotted at a pro-Palestine protest in London with a poster that labelled British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and now-sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman ‘coconuts.’ She was arrested by the Met Police and charged with passing ‘hateful remarks’.

    Coconut, commonly used by people of Asian descent, is an insult used to describe a person of colour who may be brown on the outside, but his personal views and political alliances are always with the oppressor. It is not a racist slur.

    Twitter users were outraged by the Met Police’s remarks by pointing out racism is rife within pro-Israel supporters, but pro-Palestine supporters were relentlessly targeted for their beliefs.

    The CEO of the Muslim dating app Muzz App, Shahzad Younas, has appealed to followers to send them the details of the arrested woman and announced that they will be paying her legal fees.

    “I believe she has been arrested and charged. If anyone knows her please ask her to get in touch with me.

    @muzz_app will pay her legal fees to defend her. This action by the

    @metpoliceuk is outrageous. The double standards around free speech to Muslims is baffling.”

  • ‘I grieve with you and stand with you’; British PM visits Israel

    ‘I grieve with you and stand with you’; British PM visits Israel

    British prime minister Rishi Sunak landed in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday morning to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu and President Herzog.

    He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “I am in Israel, a nation in grief. I grieve with you and stand with you against the evil that is terrorism. Today, and always.”

    During his meeting with Herzog, he said that it is vital to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, stating, “Palestinians are victims of what Hamas has done. It’s important that we continue to provide humanitarian access,”

    He, nonetheless, stressed on his full support to Israel to “defend” itself, “to bring security back” in the country to its people, and “to ensure the safe return of the hostages that have been taken”.

    As per reports of the meeting by Al Jazeera, “The Prime Minister and President Herzog stressed the imperative need to avoid further escalation of violence in the region. They agreed to continue working together to that end.”

    Later, PM Netanyahu, during his meeting with his British counterpart, said Hamas’ attack on October 7 was carried out to “destroy Israel’s regional peace moves in the region”.

    PM Sunak stated that the UK will provide increased aid to the region.

    “I’m proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour. As your friend, we will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people, and we also want you to win,” Sunak said.

    In a short press conference, PM Netanyahu said, “This is not merely our battle, it’s the battle of the entire civilised war, the battle of Israel, the battle of moderate Arab countries, the battle of the free world, the battle for the future,

    “We have two forces – one is an axis of evil run by Iran and supported by Hezbollah, Hamas and others that want to bring back the Middle East to the Middle Ages … to the age of war and slavery.

    “The other forces [are those] of progress and humanity who want to push for a world of peace and prosperity.”

    PM Rishi Sunak will depart for Saudi Arabia today to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

  • A man is a man and a woman is a woman, says Rishi Sunak

    A man is a man and a woman is a woman, says Rishi Sunak

    Rishi Sunak stated that it was “common sense” that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman.”

    On Wednesday, the British Prime Minister shared his stance on gender identity at a conference speech.

    “We shouldn’t be bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be, they can’t. A man is a man, a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense.”

    He announced a ban on trans women from female-only hospital wards.

    He also added that it “shouldn’t be controversial” for parents to be informed what their children were being taught about sex and relationships at school.

    “It shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are being taught in school about relationships. Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women.”

    He laid emphasis on family, saying that Conservatives should “never be afraid” to advocate its importance for a stable society.

    His comments come about as the debate about trans rights gains steam in Britain, and the rest of the western world. Conservatives and liberals have squared off about trans issues, most notably allowing children to begin hormone therapy, the inclusion of biological men in women’s sports and the matter of allowing trans women to be kept in women’s hospital wards, jails and bathrooms.

    The crowd responded to him with a loud applause on his views over gender, whereas people on X (formerly Twitter) got divided on his stance.

  • British Prime Minister bans American dog breed

    British Prime Minister bans American dog breed

    British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said on Friday that American XL Bully dogs will be banned in the UK after a spate of dangerous attacks.

    The British Prime Minister expressed hope that the breed of dangerous dogs will be banned by the end of this year.

    In a video statement released on social media, Rishi Sunak said that these dogs have caused at least 14 human deaths since 2021 and are a threat to children and communities.

    Referring to videos of dogs attacking humans and spreading panic among people, Sunak has said that he has given instructions to act immediately to ban this breed of dogs to keep people safe, adding that it is now clear that the problem is not a few badly trained dogs but their behaviour.

    He stated that owners have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, assuring the public that work is underway to prevent future attacks and protect the public.

  • Imran cites British PM Rishi Sunak fine for not wearing seatbelt as ‘rule of law’

    Imran cites British PM Rishi Sunak fine for not wearing seatbelt as ‘rule of law’

    British Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak was fined by the police on Friday for not wearing a seatbelt in the car while filming a social media video.

    Lancashire Police announced on Twitter that they have issued Sunak “with a conditional offer of fixed penalty”.

    In the video that went viral on Thursday, the seatbeltless Conservative leader speaks from the back seat of a moving car about his policies for boosting growth during a trip to Lancashire in England’s north.

    According to BBC, passengers caught failing to wear a seat belt when one is available can be fined £100 (PKR 28,475).

    Reacting to the news, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former PM Imran Khan highlighted the rule of law in Britain.

    In a tweet, Khan said, “This is rule of law where no one is above it; this differentiates prosperous nations from poor ones.”

    “No NROs, no qabza GPS, no custodial torture for tweeting the truth about the powerful because the justice system protects the weak. Justice was the bedrock of Riyasat e Madina,” he added

    However, Sunak apologised afterward and called it a “brief error of judgement”.

    It is the second time Sunak has received a fixed penalty notice while in being in the government.

    Last April, he was fined along with the-then PM Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie for breaking Covid lockdown rules by attending a gathering in Downing Street in June 2020.