UK: Sunak to put government on crisis footing from 'day one'

He intends to put forth the argument that the country is facing a national emergency on five fronts

By Reuters

Published: Sat 23 Jul 2022, 7:59 AM

In an interview with The Times on Friday, Britain's former finance minister, Rishi Sunak, one of the top candidates running for prime minister, stated that he would put the government on a crisis footing from "day one" of taking office.

Over the next week, Sunak intends to put forth the argument that Britain is facing a national emergency on five fronts including the economy, the National Health Service and migration.

Liz Truss, Sunak's main rival for the top job, held a 24-point lead over him in a YouGov poll of Conservative Party Members, published on Thursday.

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Inflation is the "number one challenge we face", explained Sunak in the interview, adding that under Truss' plans, interest rates in the country could rise significantly. He has said he planned to cut taxes, but only once inflation— now running at almost 10 per cent— is brought under control. He also accused his rivals of making "fairytale" promises about tax cuts.

The interview also saw Sunak supporting the target to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Truss, who is currently Britain's foreign minister, made other promises of tax cuts said will cost an estimated £30 billion ($36.01 billion) a year.

On Saturday, Truss is to announce that all EU legislations transposed onto the UK statute books would be given a "sunset" clause by the end of 2023, the Telegraph reported. A decision will be made on whether to keep, amend or scrap around 2,400 laws by then, Truss told the paper on Friday.

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