Page 9 - Rishi Sunak

UK PM Rishi Sunak promises tax cuts after meeting his inflation pledge

Under pressure from within his traditionally low-tax Conservative Party, Sunak said his govt needed to prioritise lowering the tax burden

India raises concerns over potential carbon taxes in UK FTA talks: Report

Earlier this year, Britain initiated consultations with domestic stakeholders on measures such as a potential carbon border tax, which could mimic the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism.

UK govt policy to deport refugees to Rwanda ruled unlawful: London SC

The UK government on Wednesday lost a crucial legal challenge after the Supreme Court in London ruled that its policy to deport refugees to Rwanda while their application for asylum is processed is unlawful. The country's highest court agreed with a previous Court of Appeal decision to say that there are "substantial grounds" to believe people deported to Rwanda could then be sent to places they would be unsafe by the Rwandan government. It was one of the flagship policies championed by recently sacked home secretary Suella Braverman, who in a scathing pre-emptive letter had sought to lay the blame for such a ruling at the door of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claiming he had failed to prepare any sort of credible Plan B to tackle the issue of illegal migration. Sunak admitted it was not the outcome the government wanted as part of his "stop the boats" pledge but stressed that he had prepared for such an eventuality. We accept the Home Secretary's submission that the Rwandan ...

Rishi Sunak hits inflation target amid Suella Braverman's scathing attack

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared buoyant on Wednesday as official statistics revealed that inflation dropped to 4.6 per cent, meeting his end of year target to curb price rises against the backdrop of his sacked home secretary's attack claiming his plan is not working. The target to half inflation from the highs of over 10 per cent when he took charge at 10 Downing Street last year was among Sunak's top five priorities for his government. The British Indian leader, who undertook a surprise Cabinet reshuffle earlier this week starting by sacking Suella Braverman for repeated insubordination, firmly declared that he will stay the course a day after his former Cabinet minister unleashed a scathing attack on his leadership in a very public three-page letter. We have halved inflation, meeting the priority I set out in January, said Sunak in a statement. It's involved hard decisions and fiscal discipline, rejecting calls for higher spending and more borrowing. As many people .

Big relief for Sunak as UK inflation drops to its lowest in 2 years to 4.6%

Inflation in the UK dropped sharply in October to its lowest level in two years largely because last year's steep rise in domestic energy bills dropped out of the annual comparison, official figures showed Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices in the year to October were 4.6% higher than the year before, much lower than the 6.7% recorded in the previous month. The decline means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to halve inflation this year has been met. Sunak made the pledge soon after becoming prime minister when inflation was more than 10%. I did that because it is, without a doubt, the best way to ease the cost of living and give families financial security, he said. "Today, we have delivered on that pledge. The government can take comfort from the decline but the main reason why inflation has fallen in that time is because of the big interest rate increases from the Bank of England, which is tasked with meeting a target inflation rate of 2%. Earl

Suella Braverman launches scathing attack on Rishi Sunak after being fired

Former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman lashed out at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a day after he fired her, calling his approach uncertain, weak and a betrayal of his promises. In a resignation letter she published on Tuesday, Braverman said Sunak had manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on key pledges and alleged that he never had any intention of keeping them. Sunak sacked Braverman on Monday after she made a series of intemperate statements that deviated from the government line. In recent weeks she called homelessness a lifestyle choice and accused police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protests, which she called hate marches. On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman's language of helping to inflame tensions. In her letter, she said Sunak had rejected her calls to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations calling for a ...

UK PM Rishi Sunak addresses new look Cabinet with pledge for change

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed a weekly meeting on Tuesday with a pledge to drive change with his new look Cabinet, a day after sacking Home Secretary Suella Braverman and parachuting in former prime minister David Cameron as the new Foreign Secretary. In his opening remarks, Sunak said to his Cabinet that they all should build a better future for the citizens of the country. "Our purpose is nothing less than to make the long-term decisions that are going to change our country for the better. I know that this strong and united team is going to deliver that change for everybody, said Sunak in his opening remarks to the new Cabinet, which sees former foreign secretary James Cleverly shifted to the role of Home Secretary. I am confident that we can demonstrate to the country that we're making progress on the priorities that I set out at the beginning of the year. But you all know that is not the limit of our ambitions. We want to build a better future for our children and

Cleverly replaces Braverman as UK Home Secy, ex-PM Cameron gets a comeback

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday sacked his Indian-origin Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and replaced her with James Cleverly, while former premier David Cameron, in an unusual move, is back in the frontline government as the new Foreign Secretary. Braverman was sacked as Sunak began a Cabinet reshuffle in the morning, days after it emerged that a controversial newspaper article attacking the Metropolitan Police was published without clearance from her boss, according to reports coming out from Downing Street. The 43-year-old Goan-origin Cabinet minister has been replaced by Cleverly, 54, who moves from his portfolio of Foreign Secretary on the day he was scheduled for talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, currently on a five-day official visit to the UK. It remains to be seen how those bilateral meetings will now pan out as former British prime minister Cameron, 57, is back in the frontline government as the new Foreign Secretary. Cameron, who is no long

AI and the global job market

The AI-driven world may align more with the Keynesian hypothesis than Elon Musk's gloomy prophecy of no jobs

UK PM Rishi Sunak sacks Suella Braverman as Home Secretary: Reports

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak began a Cabinet reshuffle on Monday morning and began by sacking his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, after days of speculation over her job since it emerged a controversial newspaper article attacking the Metropolitan Police was published without clearance from her boss, according to reports coming out from Downing Street. The 43-year-old Goan-origin Cabinet minister has repeatedly courted controversy in her senior UK Cabinet role, most recently by accusing the Met Police of playing favourites when tackling aggressive Israel-Gaza protests in an article in The Times. Sunak had been under pressure from sections of his Conservative Party as well as faced attacks from the Opposition for allowing her to continue in her job after she went ahead with the article in a perceived breach of the ministerial code. Our brave police officers deserve the thanks of every decent citizen for their professionalism in the face of violence and aggression from proteste

UK PM Rishi Sunak condemns violent protesters on Remembrance weekend

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned violent clashes involving far-right and extremist groups as he and his wife Akshata Murty joined King Charles III for Remembrance Sunday events at the Cenotaph war memorial near Downing Street here. Members of the royal family and politicians laid wreaths as Big Ben chimed at 1100 GMT to signal the start of a two-minute national silence. The service in London, which honours the contribution of military and civilian servicemen and women in World Wars I and II and other conflicts, comes a day after the Metropolitan Police made 126 arrests as counter-protesters clashed with officers in central London on Saturday. Around 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the streets during largely peaceful protests against the Israel-Gaza conflict, with police later issuing images of suspects wanted for extremist actions and displaying racially offensive banners. "I condemn the violent, wholly unacceptable scenes we have seen from the EDL

Rishi Sunak under pressure to sack minister Braverman over Palestine remark

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to sack his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, as the row surrounding her controversial newspaper article attacking the Metropolitan Police over its handling of Israel-Hamas protests in London continues to gain momentum on Friday. While Sunak's official spokesperson at 10 Downing Street has said that he has full confidence in the Home Secretary, they did confirm that the contents of The Times' Op-Ed did not have the full clearance of her boss. The harshly worded piece on Wednesday attacked the Met Police for having double standards and playing favourites by not taking tougher action against pro-Palestinian protesters when they turned aggressive. "The words that she used are not words that I myself would have used," UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told broadcasters when asked about the row. While clearly distancing himself from her stance, the senior Cabinet minister stressed that he has a productive relationship with her as a colleague"

UK to add India as 'safe state' to cut asylum claims amid migrant crisis

With this addition, all asylum claims from Indian nationals who arrive on small boats or illegally on other routes will be deemed inadmissible. There will be no appeals and they will be sent back.

UK PM Rishi Sunak, Modi discuss Israel-Gaza conflict, FTA progress

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday afternoon during which both leaders discussed the need to de-escalate tensions and the importance of protecting innocent civilians in the Israel-Gaza conflict, Downing Street said. The phone call centred around the situation in the Middle East but also covered bilateral ties and the progress being made towards an ambitious deal in the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. The leaders discussed the deeply distressing situation in the Middle East and condemned Hamas's attacks on Israel, said a Downing Street spokesperson in a readout of the call. They reiterated that Hamas did not represent the Palestinian people and reflected on the need to de-escalate tensions in the wider region. The Prime Minister (Sunak) also underscored the importance of protecting innocent civilians in Gaza and ensuring aid was able to flow into the country, the spokesperson said. Turning to the friendship ..

UK PM Sunak announces launch of Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute

In a post on X, Chandrasekhar praised the work of the international community at the UK AI safety summit

Musk, Sunak discuss AI risks, call it most disruptive force in history

The conversation was then posted for streaming on Musk's personal account on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter that he owns

Agreements at UK summit tip balance of humanity against AI threats: Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday that achievements at the first international AI Safety Summit would tip the balance in favour of humanity in the race to contain the risks from rapid advances in cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Speaking after two days of talks at Bletchley Park, a former codebreaking spy base near London, Sunak said agreements struck at the meeting of politicians, researchers and business leaders show that we have both the political will and the capability to control this technology, and secure its benefits for the long term. Sunak organised the summit as a forum for officials, experts and the tech industry to better understand cutting-edge, frontier AI that some scientists warn could pose a risk to humanity's very existence. He hailed the gathering's achievements, including a Bletchley Declaration committing nations to tackle the biggest threats from artificial intelligence, a deal to vet tech firms' AI models before their release, and an ...

UK PM Sunak hails landmark Bletchley Declaration to tackle risks from AI

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is leading the talks on Thursday at the AI Safety Summit convened by the UK, hailed the Bletchley Declaration as a landmark agreement between 28 countries, including India, on the shared responsibility to address the risks associated with artificial intelligence. In the lead up to the two-day AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, Sunak had already announced the world's first AI Safety Institute to be set up in Britain to examine, evaluate, and test new types of AI to inform national and international policymaking. The summit is aimed at focussing on international priorities for artificial intelligence. Besides his discussions with government representatives from around the world on day two of the summit, Sunak will also hear from companies at the forefront of AI, academia and civil society, focused on the concrete action needed to ensure AI safety. Those attending include major AI business leaders like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind

UK reveals AI agreement as Elon Musk warns of humanity's extinction

Britain published a Bletchley Declaration, agreed with the European Union and 28 countries including the United States and China

World's first AI Safety Institute to be set up in UK: Rishi Sunak

The UK is to be the headquarters of the world's first AI Safety Institute as the country takes the lead in examining and testing new types of artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in a speech in London on Thursday. Ahead of hosting the first Global AI Safety Summit next week, the British Indian leader who completed one year in office this week said that he genuinely believes that technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence) will bring a transformation as far-reaching as the industrial revolution, the coming of electricity, or the birth of the internet. But like those waves of advancements and the many positives that they offer, there are also "new dangers and new fears" that need to be tackled head on. Get this wrong, and AI could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons. Terrorist groups could use AI to spread fear and destruction on an even greater scale. Criminals could exploit AI for cyber-attacks, disinformation, fraud, or even child sexua