All posts tagged: Rishi

Rishi Sunak Dodges Questions About Tory Cabinet Election Bets

Rishi Sunak Dodges Questions About Tory Cabinet Election Bets

Published by Sam

Rishi Sunak has failed to deny that cabinet members are among the Tories to place bets on the date of the election. Three Tories with close links to the prime minister, as well as one of his close protection officers, are being investigated over the allegations. The Conservatives have confirmed they “have been contacted have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals”. That has led to speculation that more Tories may be caught up in the scandal. At the launch of the Tories’ Welsh manifesto today, Sunak repeatedly dodged questions about the affair. He was asked by a reporter from LBC: “Are you confident none of your cabinet members have also placed a bet?” The prime minister replied: “The first thing to say is I was incredibly angry when I learned about these allegations – the same anger that many of you will feel and everyone watching. “It’s right that they are investigated thoroughly, these are serious allegations. Right that they are being thoroughly investigated, as they are being. Independently, …

Rishi Sunak Ridiculed Over Comment On Government Spending

Rishi Sunak Ridiculed Over Comment On Government Spending

Published by Sam

Rishi Sunak’s latest attempt to post an inspiring message on social media has only triggered a fresh wave of mockery. On Tuesday, the prime minister posted on X (formerly Twitter): “You will always be better at spending your own money than the government is.” While this sentiment seemed to come out of nowhere, it is likely linked to the Tory manifesto which Sunak unveiled hours before. The Conservatives promise voters that if they were re-elected, they would introduce £17billion of tax cuts. You will always be better at spending your own money than the government is. — Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 11, 2024 But, this post probably did not land on social media how the prime minister had envisioned it would. Although it was viewed more than six million times in less than 24 hours, a majority of the comments were less than flattering… Most questioned what sort of election campaign strategy this was, and mocked the idea of individuals funding government services. Openly admitting that the government has done, and continues to do, a …

After Rishi Sunak’s D-day disaster Labour need not worry about Tory tax claims | Larry Elliott

After Rishi Sunak’s D-day disaster Labour need not worry about Tory tax claims | Larry Elliott

Published by skeptic

Any lingering doubts about the result of next month’s election have been dispelled by Rishi Sunak’s inexplicable decision to leave last week’s D-day commemorations early. Only the scale of the Tory defeat remains in question. Last week was supposed to be the start of the Conservative party’s fightback. The idea was to go hard on Labour’s tax and spending plans in the hope that it would make voters forget that they are poorer now than they were at the start of this parliament. The strategy got off to a decent start, mainly because it clearly rattled a Labour party still haunted by its traumatic defeat at the 1992 election. Want to know why Rachel Reeves is so obsessed with getting the national debt on a downward trend? Look no further than Neil Kinnock snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in one of the biggest poll shocks of modern times. Finding it hard to understand why Labour was so desperate to rubbish the claim that taxes would need to rise by £2,000 a household if …

D-day deserter Rishi Sunak didn’t do his duty, so why should gen Z be expected to do theirs? | Martha Gill

D-day deserter Rishi Sunak didn’t do his duty, so why should gen Z be expected to do theirs? | Martha Gill

Published by skeptic

Rishi Sunak is in an unfortunate position. Anything he does that even slightly cuts convention will now be read as a terrible blunder. Once a narrative like this picks up steam it is hard to stop. The press wants to add to the story arc. A delighted Labour will help it along. And perhaps even some of his own camp, looking for a scapegoat in the coming election defeat, will be rooting for him to fail. There’s really no spinning his latest gaffe. It’s quite the decision to aim your entire campaign at those who care about the Second World War, and then to D-day ceremony, leaving veterans standing. Is this match-fixing, you wonder? Some wild scheme – a Westminster version of Mel Brooks’s film The Producers – to turn the campaign into a notorious flop and then somehow profit? The Conservatives have sacrificed their chances with wide swathes of voters in pursuit of a traditionalist core. Insulting war heroes is rarely a wise move. But here it may be fatal. What we saw last week …

General election: Rishi Sunak says reforming welfare is ‘moral mission’ as he pledges to cut rising costs of benefits | Politics News

General election: Rishi Sunak says reforming welfare is ‘moral mission’ as he pledges to cut rising costs of benefits | Politics News

Published by Sam

The Tories will put benefit reforms at the heart of their election campaign on Sunday as Rishi Sunak seeks to turn things around following a difficult week. The party is promising to cut the cost of welfare to the tune of £12bn a year by the end of the next parliament through measures aimed at helping people back into work. The plan includes a £700m investment in NHS mental health treatment to ensure 500,000 more people can access talking therapies by 2030. It also includes previously announced measures, such as removing benefits for people not taking jobs after 12 months. The number of working age people who are economically inactive has soared to record highs following the pandemic. The trend is thought to be driven mainly by those who have taken early retirement and people with long-term health conditions waiting for treatment on the NHS. But the Conservative Party has said the 40% increase of people out of work – from two million to 2.8 million since COVID – is unsustainable. It claims the cost …

This D-Day cock-up is final proof that Rishi Sunak is an embarrassment to Britain

This D-Day cock-up is final proof that Rishi Sunak is an embarrassment to Britain

Published by Sam

Just when you thought the Conservatives’ election campaign couldn’t get any worse, the Prime Minister chose to snub veterans by leaving the D-Day commemoration event in Normandy early. He did so in order to be interviewed by a broadcaster. Then he apologised. Those are the bare facts, and, frankly, it’s difficult to know where to start with this. Had we not been in the middle of a general election campaign, there can be little doubt that letters from Tory MPs demanding a vote of no confidence in Rishi Sunak would be dropping on to Graham Brady’s desk like confetti. Much can be forgiven of our political leaders, but choosing to attend a TV interview instead of spending just a little more time with the heroes who fought to liberate Europe 80 years ago falls into the “unforgivable” column. It’s about judgment. Shouldn’t we be able to expect the Prime Minister, of all people, to prioritise the nation’s tributes to those who fought and died for their country? D-Day commemoration is just one day a year; …

Rishi Sunaks Nightmare Reform UK Surges In Polls

Rishi Sunaks Nightmare Reform UK Surges In Polls

Published by Sam

Support for Reform UK has surged since Nigel Farage became the party’s leader and announced he is running to be an MP. In a nightmare scenario for Rishi Sunak, five new opinion polls tonight showed the right-wing party is squeezing Tory support across the country. That means the Conservatives are at risk of losing even more seats than would otherwise have been the case – putting Labour well on course for a thumping Commons majority. A Redfield and Winton Strategies poll put Reform on 17%, just two points behind the Tories, who are down 1 point on 19%. Survation showed support for Reform had soared by 7 points since last week, putting them on 15%. The Tories were on 23%, again down 1 point. Pollsters Focaldata also showed Reform support growing, this time by 2 points to 14%, with the Tories down 1 point on 25%. BMG Research have Reform up 5 points on 16%, with the Conservatives dropping by 4 points to 23%. Another poll published on Friday morning by Techne showed Reform up …

Keir Starmer Slams Rishi Sunak In Election Debate

Keir Starmer Slams Rishi Sunak In Election Debate

Published by Sam

Keir Starmer branded Rishi Sunak “insulting and childish” during the first head-to-head debate of the election campaign. The pair clashed repeatedly during the hour-long ITV programme. But it was the prime minister’s refusal to deny that he believes the Labour leader is a threat to national security which saw tempers boil over. Presenter Julie Etchingham asked Sunak: “You raised a question there very specifically at the end of that statement … about our security or otherwise under the potential leadership of Keir Starmer. “Do you really think the man standing next to you is a threat to our national security?” The PM replied: “I don’t think the Labour Party can be trusted to keep this country as safe as the Conservatives.” Starmer could be heard saying “shocking” as Sunak continued: “The world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the end of the Cold War. “I’ve made the decision to invest more in our defence, taking it up to 2.5% of GDP, the Labour Party have not matched that. And …

What did Rishi Sunak do before he entered politics? | Politics News

What did Rishi Sunak do before he entered politics? | Politics News

Published by Sam

When Rishi Sunak moved into Number 10 two years ago, he was described as Britain’s first hedge fund prime minister. Sky’s Economics and Data Editor Ed Conway wrote at the time that Mr Sunak’s background makes for a CV unlike almost every other resident of Downing Street. It was a career that started aged 21 at Goldman Sachs and saw him co-found a firm registered in the Cayman Islands. But it is Mr Sunak’s three years at hedge fund TCI straddling the 2008 financial crash that is now being revisited. Both the Conservatives and Labour have been releasing “attack ad” videos in the general election campaign – and the prime minister’s financial background is the subject of Labour’s latest one. In a play on The Big Short scene in which Margot Robbie explains mortgage bonds while sipping champagne in a bubble bath, comedian Jon Richardson examines Mr Sunak’s career as he drinks beer in the bath. He takes viewers back to 2007, when Mr Sunak was a partner at TCI, a hedge fund known for …

‘How Can Anyone Trust You?’: Rishi Sunak Slammed By Voter Over Partygate Fine

‘How Can Anyone Trust You?’: Rishi Sunak Slammed By Voter Over Partygate Fine

Published by Sam

Rishi Sunak has been asked why people should “trust” him given he was handed a police fine for breaking Covid lockdown rules as part of the partygate scandal. Speaking to voters on Thursday, the prime minister was confronted by a man who said his mother died during the pandemic. “That was the month when all the parties were going on in Downing Street,” he said. “How can anyone trust you or the party after things like this?” Sunak he was “sorry for what was going on in Downing Street” at the time. “For my part I apologised. I showed up toe a meeting early. I was working on things to help you and your business and many other families like that,” he said. “When our country goes through tough times, I will always be there to support you.” Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney said Sunak would ‘go down in history as the partygate chancellor’. “People up and down the country won’t forget Sunak’s involvement in Boris Johnson’s lying and lawbreaking government,” she said. “His weasel …