For Rishi Sunak, the knives are out
Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak’s immediate predecessor, launched an attack on her successor on Sunday after remaining silent for more than 100 days following her departure as prime minister after holding the job for the shortest period in British history.
In a 4,000-word opinion piece in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper, she described Sunak’s improvement of company tax from 19 to 25 percent as “economically detrimental”.
She continued by writing that as prime minister, she needed to change things up and “not manage decline or to preside over our economy sinking into stagnation” in a clear critique of the current prime minister’s handling of the banking system
She continued by writing that, criticism of the current prime minister’s handling of the economy – she wanted to change things as prime minister and “not manage decline or to preside over our country sliding into stagnation”.
Sunak, who is of Indian origin, helped to steady the ship after her 45 billion pounds unfunded mini-budget caused a series of economic crises in the UK; however, the country has slid into recession under his watch.
She claimed that despite accepting some responsibility for her brief tenure at 10 Downing Street, “a very powerful economic establishment, coupled with a lack of political support, did not allow me a genuine chance to enact my goals.”
Truss intends to deliver speeches in the coming days and weeks to amplify her opposition to Sunak’s policies, particularly his approach to China. She will reiterate that Beijing is a threat to Britain, which Sunak has defined as a policy of ‘robust pragmatism’. Truss is still a member of the House of Commons.
Truss’s predecessor as prime minister, the colorful but controversial Boris Johnson, has also been working hard to get back on the press radar. In the BBC documentary earlier this week, he claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike.
He described how Putin once threatened him, saying, “Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile strike it would only take a minute.” This was a “lie,” according to a Kremlin spokesman in response.
Johnson unexpectedly visited Ukraine on January 22 and met its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Politico magazine made the following observation: “Boris Johnson surged back into the spotlight on Sunday after videos of the former British prime minister visiting Ukraine was leaked online, in a move sure to annoy the Conservative administration back home.”
Johnson’s trip, which was reportedly not planned through the British embassy, was viewed as an attempt to discredit Sunak. To stage a comeback as prime minister, the former has obtained a 1 million pound war chest from a businessman contributor.
Meanwhile, Sunak, nicknamed the “invisible prime minister” by some in the British media, will embark on a tour of town hall meetings across the country in an attempt to raise public awareness of him. Despite his modern-day power and reach, he remains a relatively unknown figure in remoter parts of the UK.
According to the Indian high commission in London, “a special gesture by PM @rishisunak to join for a while NSA dialogue btwn Sir Tim Barrow & Mr. Doval @cabinetofficeuk…”
