Rishi Sunak’s first moments as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom guaranteed that there would be no continuation of the short-lived reign led by Liz Truss and that many defined policies, particularly economic and financial, would be reversed. . “Some mistakes were made (…) and I was elected as the leader of my party and as Prime Minister, to correct them, Sunak, in his first statement after taking office, showed what he was coming for.
The first objective was to calm markets after the turmoil in Truce that led to the pound falling to historic levels against the euro and US dollar. Jeremy Hunt, who has been instrumental in trying to restore credibility to economic policy, remains chancellor of the Treasury, and the first decision to be made is to announce that the budget, due to be tabled next Monday, will only be tabled on November 17. But unlike Truss’ proposal, it would have included an analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent government watchdog that assesses policy’s impact on the economy and public finances.
All policy is on hold until the new budget, made clear when new cabinet members pushed back on answers to questions about pension increases (linked to inflation), inflation and support for responding to double digits and the energy crisis. and defense and foreign policy spending (especially in Ukraine). But it has already been announced that the focus of the renewed policy will be on raising revenue (more taxes, rather than less) and spending cuts, reducing the deficit by £40bn (around €46bn).
Read the full article in New That is, on newsstands this Saturday, October 29.
