Category Archives: Rishi Sunak

Release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah key to UK-Egypt relations, former diplomat says

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Ex-ambassador warns hunger striker’s situation at crucial stage after Rishi Sunak meeting with Egyptian president

The release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the detained British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist who is on hunger strike, has become the defining issue for British-Egyptian relations, the former British ambassador to Egypt John Casson has warned.

His comments came as Abd el-Fattah’s aunt, the novelist Ahdaf Soueif, said there was a danger the British “are allowing themselves to be fobbed off with the excuses they have been given since last December when we started asking for consular visits”.

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Rishi Sunak ‘optimistic’ on Channel crossings after talks with Macron

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UK prime minister vows to ‘get a grip’ on small boat crossings but deflects questions on concrete action

Rishi Sunak has renewed a promise to stop people being smuggled across the Channel, despite coming away from his first face-to-face talks with Emmanuel Macron without any firm commitments.

The prime minister vowed to “get a grip of this situation” and promised details about the progress of cross-Channel talks “in the coming weeks”, with No 10 hoping to make a major announcement before Christmas.

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Gavin Williamson has Sunak’s ‘full confidence’, says No10, as Starmer calls for him to be sacked – UK politics live

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Prime minister’s judgment called into question after making Williamson minister again

Keir Starmer has said Gavin Williamson should be sacked, because he is “not fit” be a government minister.

But, speaking to journalists this morning, the Labour leader focused his criticism on Rishi Sunak for giving Williamson a job as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, with the right to attend cabinet.

It is so disappointing that yet again we’re having a discussion about the prime minister’s judgment, this time in relation to Gavin Williamson. He’s clearly got people around the cabinet table who are not fit to be there. That is because he was so weak and wanted to avoid an election within his own party and I think the only way out of this, because these debates are going to go on, because of the weak position the prime minister is in, I think we should say to the public, they should have a choice - do you want to carry on with this chaos or do you want the stability of a Labour government? That’s why I think there is such a powerful case for a general election.

I think that the prime minister has got people who are clearly not fit for the job around the cabinet table. Gavin Williamson has got history when it comes to breaches of security and leaking, etc. He is clearly not suitable, but the central focus really here is on the prime minister, to ask the question why has he put these people around the cabinet.

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Rishi Sunak under pressure over Gavin Williamson texts

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PM said to have been informed of the complaint against Williamson before giving him a cabinet role

Rishi Sunak is facing further questions over his political judgment after it emerged he was made aware of a complaint by the former chief whip against his political ally Gavin Williamson before appointing him.

The Guardian understands some cabinet ministers and ex-ministers were aware of hostile messages to Wendy Morton. The texts were revealed over the weekend to include angry remonstrations about not being invited to the Queen’s funeral and warnings that “there is a price for everything”.

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Rishi Sunak to raise issue of jailed writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah in Egypt at Cop27

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Hunger striker’s sister welcomes news but says he may die before end of summit

Rishi Sunak has said he will raise the issue of imprisoned writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah in Egypt at the Cop27 summit, but the writer’s sister has said her brother’s hunger and water strike may mean he will die before the end of the summit.

Sunak wrote to the family of the British-Egyptian writer saying he would raise his imprisonment with the Egyptian government and reply again by the end of the climate summit.

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Sunak claims role as ‘clean energy champion’ on eve of Cop27

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Scepticism from summit attendees as PM adopts Labour leader’s stated aim of making UK a green ‘superpower’

Rishi Sunak attempted an extraordinary volte-face on green policy on the eve of the Cop27 climate summit on Saturday, saying he would attend in order to “galvanise” world leaders to save the planet.

The prime minister – who had been criticised for saying he was too busy with domestic commitments to attend – also adopted precisely the same language on renewable energy that Labour leader Keir Starmer has been using for months, declaring that he now wanted to turn the UK into a “clean energy superpower”.

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Gavin Williamson faces inquiry over ‘abusive’ messages to Wendy Morton

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Angry at not being invited to the Queen’s funeral, minister sent string of abusive texts

Gavin Williamson is facing an investigation over a series of abusive and threatening messages sent to the then Tory chief whip complaining he had been excluded from the Queen’s funeral.

The cabinet minister, who was a backbencher at the time, accused Wendy Morton of using the death of the monarch to “punish” senior MPs who were out of favour with Liz Truss’s government.

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Infosys still operating from Russia eight months after saying it was pulling out

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Exclusive: Indian firm from which Rishi Sunak’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends retains staffed Moscow office

The Indian IT services company Infosys from which the prime minister’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends is still operating from Moscow eight months after the company said it was pulling out.

The company retains a staffed office and is paying subcontractors in the Russian capital to carry out IT services for a global client although a spokesperson said they were looking to end that arrangement.

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Non-dom tax breaks being reviewed by the Treasury in effort to raise revenue

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Officials are also looking at incorporating cut in tax-free allowance for dividends into autumn statement

Treasury officials are examining whether the autumn statement could include changes to non-dom status and moves to raise taxes on dividends by cutting tax-free allowances.

No final decisions have been taken but Whitehall sources said options were being examined by the Treasury’s high net worth individuals policy team.

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Spanish minister urges Sunak to commit to climate crisis fight

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Teresa Ribera says she was ‘hugely surprised’ and saddened by PM’s initial refusal to go to Cop27 summit

The Spanish government has urged Rishi Sunak to demonstrate a clear commitment to fighting the climate emergency, describing the British government’s flip-flopping over the prime minister’s attendance of the forthcoming Cop27 summit as “sad” and “surprising”, given the UK’s global reputation and its current presidency of the conference.

Spain’s environment minister, Teresa Ribera, also said the “absurd”, heel-dragging political debate over climate change in the UK was “surprising and disappointing”.

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Rishi Sunak scraps plans to move embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

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Palestinian mission in UK welcomes statement, which appears to put end to review ordered by Liz Truss

Rishi Sunak has abandoned moves initiated by Liz Truss to relocate Britain’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Downing Street has confirmed.

Truss, when she was prime minister, ordered a review into whether the UK should follow the Trump administration in moving the embassy from Tel Aviv.

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UN poverty envoy tells Britain it is ‘worst time’ to bring in austerity

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Exclusive: Olivier de Schutter says cuts could violate human rights laws, calling instead for higher taxes on rich

The United Nations’ poverty envoy has warned Rishi Sunak that unleashing a new wave of austerity in this month’s budget could violate the UK’s international human rights obligations and increase hunger and malnutrition.

Olivier de Schutter, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, said he was “extremely troubled” by likely multibillion-pound spending cuts – including possible real-terms reductions in welfare payments to millions of the nation’s poorest families.

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Rishi Sunak U-turns on decision not to attend Cop27 climate summit

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UK prime minister says he will now attend talks in Egypt next week

Rishi Sunak has reversed on his decision to skip Cop27 and will attend the climate summit in Egypt next week.

“There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change,” the prime minister said.

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Rishi Sunak confirms he will attend Cop27 after earlier saying he would not go – UK politics live

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Prime minister U-turns on attending climate conference in Egypt following criticism of decision not to go

Sam Hall, director of the Conserative Environment Network, has welcomed Rishi Sunak’s decision to attend Cop27.

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that he will attend the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt next week.

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UK criticised for failing to pay $300m in promised climate funds ahead of Cop27

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Missed deadline for money pledged to assist developing countries sends ‘strong negative signal’ ahead of Egypt summit, say experts

The British government has come under fire for sending a “strong negative signal” ahead of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, by failing to make $300m (£260m) of promised climate finance payments.

The UK has already caused upset among developing countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, after a statement from Downing Street that Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, would not attend Cop27 due to his focus on domestic issues.

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Rishi Sunak preparing years of tax rises to plug £50bn fiscal black hole

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PM set to hike taxes across the board to repair nation’s finances after Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget

Rishi Sunak is preparing years of tax rises for Britain in an effort to make up for a £50bn fiscal hole left by Liz Truss’s disastrous tenure in Downing Street, according to a Treasury insider.

After a meeting between the prime minister and Jeremy Hunt on Monday to plan the upcoming autumn statement, a Treasury source said things were going to get “rough”.

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Suella Braverman admits to sending official documents to her personal email address six times – live

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Home secretary makes admission in letter to committee of MPs

Priti Patel signed off on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers whenever it was required, her allies have told PA Media. Echoing a briefing given to Danny Shaw earlier (see 9.41am), PA Media says:

A source close to Patel told the PA news agency: “There was never any overcrowding [at the Manston centre] when she was there. What would happen was if it got to the point where people were getting worried about conditions we would sign off on more hotels.”

Despite the political difficulties, the cost to the taxpayer and the potential for a media backlash, Patel agreed to hotels because “it was the right thing to do”.

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Ministers creating ‘wild west’ conditions with use of personal phones

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Unsecured mobiles, email accounts and WhatsApp chats could pose national security risk, intelligence experts warn

Ministers risk creating “wild west” conditions in matters of national security by the increased use of personal email and phones to conduct confidential business, intelligence experts and former officials have warned.

After a week tainted by a row over the use of a personal email account by the home secretary, it was revealed on Sunday that Liz Truss’s mobile is alleged to have been hacked by overseas agents.

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Global anger at Sunak’s Cop27 snub that raises fears over UK’s climate crisis stance

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PM accused of ‘washing his hands’ of leadership on international climate action with decision not to attend talks

Rishi Sunak’s decision to snub the Cop27 UN climate talks, and to keep King Charles from attending, has angered and upset countries around the world, risking the UK’s standing on the world stage and raising concerns over his government’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

Several developing countries told the Guardian of their dismay. Carlos Fuller, Belize’s ambassador to the UN, said: “I can understand why the king was asked not to attend – keeping him out of the fray. However, as the principal UK policymaker and the Cop26 president, the PM should have led the summit.

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Voters choose Sunak’s Tories over Labour to repair economy, new poll reveals

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Rishi Sunak’s arrival in Downing Street is already helping to repair the party’s reputation for financial management

Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have overturned Labour’s lead in terms of who voters trust most to manage the economy, a new poll for the Observer has revealed.

The new prime minister is currently drawing up tax rises and spending cuts designed to fill a £40bn fiscal hole left by Liz Truss’s disastrous time in Downing Street, with warnings that any significant attempt to cut Whitehall budgets will lead to huge pressure on public services. It comes with new analysis revealing that freezing public service spending would save £20bn but would also lead to a return to the austerity of the 2010s.

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