Tag Archives: Rishi Sunak

Sunak To ‘Clear The Decks’ By Nodding Through Johnson Resignation Honours List

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Rishi Sunak is expected to accept Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list in a move that could prompt crunch by-elections when Labour are well ahead of the Tories in the polls.

The Times newspaper reported that official confirmation of who will receive peerages and sit in the House of Lords could be published in a matter of weeks, with the current prime minister hoping to “clear the decks”.

The move comes amid acrimony between Sunak and Johnson over the Covid-19 public inquiry and whether the former-PM’s unredacted WhatsApp messages during the pandemic should be handed over.

Also, according to The Times, it could prompt by-elections for seats held by former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and Alok Sharma, who have long been thought to be on the 50-strong list.

Two other former ministers – Nigel Adams and Alister Jack – are also expected to be enobled, but will stay on as MPs until the end of this parliament.

“We strictly do not comment on honours,” Johnson’s spokesman said.

A poll this week showed the Labour Party is on track to win a 140-seat majority at the next election.

The bombshell MRP analysis suggests Keir Starmer is heading for 10 Downing Street on the back of a landslide victory in 2024.

<img class="img-sized__img landscape" loading="lazy" alt="Former prime minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie.” width=”720″ height=”486″ src=”https://www.wellnessmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/sunak-to-clear-the-decks-by-nodding-through-johnson-resignation-honours-list-2.jpg”>
Former prime minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie.

Kirsty O’Connor via PA Wire/PA Images

Meanwhile, Johnson and his wife Carrie hosted a close friend at Chequers in May 2021 for an overnight stay while some Covid-19 restrictions were still in place, according to reports.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said that the visit was “entirely lawful”, after The Guardian newspaper reported that events organiser Dixie Maloney stayed at the grace and favour country residence on May 7 2021.

At that stage, indoor mixing between different households was not permitted.

Exceptions to this included gatherings “reasonably necessary” for work purposes and childcare. The Guardian cited sources suggesting that Maloney was permitted to be there for childcare reasons given Symonds was pregnant.

Under the rules at the time, a gathering could be seen as reasonably necessary “to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person” – a definition that under the legislation included anyone pregnant.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said: “This was entirely lawful, and it was covered by relevant provisions in the Covid regulations, as The Guardian’s report makes clear.

“To suggest otherwise is totally untrue.”

There had been some speculation that Maloney was involved in some of the planning behind the couple’s wedding.

A decision last month to pass to the police concerns over events in Chequers and Downing Street, following a review of the former prime minister’s official diary, led to renewed questions for Johnson and the ministers.

Entries in the former prime minister’s official diary reportedly revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic and new allegations about his behaviour in Downing Street.

Cabinet Office officials passed concerns to the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police after the new information came to light during a review by taxpayer-funded lawyers ahead of the Covid public inquiry.

Johnson, who believes he is the victim of a stitch-up, ditched the government-appointed lawyers representing him in the Covid inquiry after the referral.

It came as he awaits the verdict of the Commons privileges committee, which is conducting an inquiry into whether Johnson lied to parliament about the partygate scandal.

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Prince Harry: Government At ‘Rock Bottom’ And ‘In Bed’ With The Media

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Prince Harry has described the state of the British press and the government as both being at “rock bottom” and accused them of being “in bed” with one another.

The Duke of Sussex’s made the outspoken attack on the serving government – breaking royal protocol – as he entered the witness box in his claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror.

Harry gave evidence on Tuesday at the high court in London in his lawsuit against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which he accuses of phone-hacking and other unlawful acts.

In a witness statement, the prince said: “Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.

“In my view, in order to save journalism as a profession, journalists need to expose those people in the media that have stolen or highjacked the privileges and powers of the press, and have used illegal or unlawful means for their own gain and agendas.

“I feel that I need to make sure that this unlawful behaviour is exposed, because obviously I don’t want anybody else going through the same thing that I’ve been going through on a personal level.

“But also on a national level as, at the moment, our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government – both of which I believe are at rock bottom.”

Sunak has refused to be drawn into a war of words with the Duke of Sussex over his claim.

The prime minister told reporters travelling with him to Washington: “As you know, we have a long-standing convention that prime ministers don’t comment on members of the royal family.”

Prince Harry alleges that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by MGN titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial.

Andrew Green KC, for MGN, questioned Harry on about 20 of the 33 articles over the course of the hearing, which lasted nearly five hours.

Harry’s claim is being heard alongside three other “representative” claims during a trial which began last month and is due to last six to seven weeks.

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Oh Good – AI Could ‘Kill Many Humans’ Within Two Years, Says Rishi Sunak’s Adviser

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Rishi Sunak’s adviser on artificial intelligence has warned there’s just two years to save the world from AI systems.

Matt Clifford said AI could have the capability to be behind advances that “kill many humans” within that timeframe.

He said that unless producers are regulated on a global scale then there could be “very powerful” systems that humans could struggle to control.

Even the short-term risks were “pretty scary”, he told TalkTV, with AI having the potential to create cyber and biological weapons that could inflict many deaths.

The comments come after a letter backed by dozens of experts, including AI pioneers, was published last week warning that the risks of the technology should be treated with the same urgency as pandemics or nuclear war.

Senior bosses at companies such as Google DeepMind and Anthropic signed the letter along with the so-called “godfather of AI”, Geoffrey Hinton, who resigned from his job at Google earlier this month, saying that in the wrong hands, AI could be used to harm people and spell the end of humanity.

Clifford is advising the prime minister on the development of the UK government’s Foundation Model Taskforce, which is looking into AI language models such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, and is also chairman of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria).

He told TalkTV: “I think there are lots of different types of risks with AI and often in the industry we talk about near-term and long-term risks, and the near-term risks are actually pretty scary.

“You can use AI today to create new recipes for bio weapons or to launch large-scale cyber attacks. These are bad things.

“The kind of existential risk that I think the letter writers were talking about is… about what happens once we effectively create a new species, an intelligence that is greater than humans.”

While conceding that a two-year timescale for computers to surpass human intelligence was at the “bullish end of the spectrum”, Clifford said AI systems were becoming “more and more capable at an ever increasing rate”.

Asked on the First Edition programme on Monday what percentage chance he would give that humanity could be wiped out by AI, Clifford said: “I think it is not zero.”

He continued: “If we go back to things like the bio weapons or cyber (attacks), you can have really very dangerous threats to humans that could kill many humans – not all humans – simply from where we would expect models to be in two years’ time.

“I think the thing to focus on now is how do we make sure that we know how to control these models because right now we don’t.”

The technology expert said AI production needed to be regulated on a global scale and not only by national governments.

AI apps have gone viral online, with users posting fake images of celebrities and politicians, and students using ChatGPT and other “language learning models” to generate university-grade essays.

But AI can also perform life-saving tasks, such as algorithms analysing medical images such as X-rays, scans and ultrasounds, helping doctors to identify and diagnose diseases such as cancer and heart conditions more accurately and quickly.

Clifford said that AI, if harnessed in the right way, could be a force for good.

“You can imagine AI curing diseases, making the economy more productive, helping us get to a carbon neutral economy,” he said.

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Minister Denies Sunak Is Blocking WhatsApps Over Fears Plot To Topple Johnson Will Be Exposed

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A minister has dismissed claims that Rishi Sunak is blocking the release of messages to the Covid inquiry to avoid exposing a plot against Boris Johnson.

Robert Jenrick insisted the reason for the government’s bid to stop the release of unredacted messages to the inquiry was a “simple legal one”.

It follows an extraordinary argument between ministers and the official inquiry into the pandemic.

The government is trying to block the inquiry’s order to release WhatsApp messages and diaries, arguing that it should not have to hand over material which is “unambiguously irrelevant”.

However, a defiant Johnson has bypassed the government and told the inquiry he is happy to hand over all his own communications from that period.

Allies of the former prime minister claimed Sunak was blocking the release of text messages because it could reveal his plot to bring down Johnson, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Asked about the claims, Jenrick told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “No, as I say, the issue here is a simple legal one.”

Jenrick said Johnson would not be restricted over what he divulged to the Covid inquiry.

But he said it would not be “sensible or reasonable” to hand over ministers’ documents or messages if they are deemed irrelevant to the pandemic.

It comes after cabinet office lawyers wrote to Johnson to warn that money would “cease to be available” if he breaks conditions such as releasing evidence without permission.

He has had legal advice paid for by the taxpayer, but the Sunday Times detailed the letter from government lawyers containing the warning to Johnson.

“The funding offer will cease to be available to you if you knowingly seek to frustrate or undermine, either through your own actions or the actions of others, the government’s position in relation to the inquiry unless there is a clear and irreconcilable conflict of interest on a particular point at issue,” it said.

The cabinet office insisted the letter was “intended to protect public funds” so taxpayer-funded lawyers are not used for any other purpose than aiding the inquiry.

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, a staunch ally of the former Tory leader, said it is “not a good look for the government”.

“All evidence provided should be unfettered and not restricted by gov censorship – whatever form that may take,” she tweeted.

Conservative donor Lord Cruddas, an outspoken backer of Johnson, who handed him a peerage, urged the MP not to be “held to ransom” by the threat.

“Don’t worry @BorisJohnson I can easily get your legal fees funded by supporters and crowd funding, it’s easy,” he tweeted.

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‘Return Of The Maybot’: Rishi Sunak Rinsed Over Toe-Curling TV Clip

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Rishi Sunak has been rinsed over an excruciating 80-second interview in which he kept repeating himself.

The prime minister was compared unflatteringly to his predecessor Theresa May – who was dubbed the “Maybot” for her awkward public persona.

Sunak was quizzed by Sky News over the controversy surrounding the Covid inquiry’s demands for WhatsApp messages sent by Boris Johnson during the pandemic.

He said: “I think it’s really important that we learn the lessons of Covid and that’s why the inquiry was established and we want to make sure that whatever lessons there are to be learned are learned and that we do that in a spirit of transparency and candour.

“The government has co-operated with the inquiry – tens of thousands of documents have been handed over.

“And with regard to the specific question at the moment, the government’s carefully considering its position, but it’s confident in the approach that it’s taken.”

Asked if the government wanted to get into a legal battle with the inquiry over the withheld messages, the PM said: “We are carefully considering next steps and the government is confident in its position.”

Pressed again, Sunak said: “The government’s handed over tens and tens of thousands of documents in a spirit of candour and transparency because it is important that we learn the lessons of Covid.

“With regard to the particular question at the moment, we’re carefully considering next steps but the government is confident in its position.”

The exasperated interviewer tried once again to get a straight answer out of the prime minister, but falling back on his pre-prepared lines once again, he said: “The government is considering next steps carefully, but has been confident of its position and has handed over tens of thousands of documents today in a spirit of candour and transparency because it’s important that we learn the lessons from Covid and carefully considering next steps.”

Campaign group Best for Britain tweeted: “The skill of a politician is to stick to their answer without looking like a myna bird, rocking on its perch, just mimicking human speech.”

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s former leader at Westminster, was another Twitter user who mocked the PM.

He said: “This is the return of the Maybot. Make statement and repeat despite follow up questions trying to get a proper response.”

Others described Sunak as a “broken ChatGPT bot” over the toe-curling exchange.

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Car Crashes Into Gates Of Downing Street

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A car has crashed into the gates of Downing Street, where UK prime minister Rishi Sunak lives, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Armed officers have arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving, the force added. It continued that no-one has been hurt.

The collision involving the silver Kia took place at around 4.20pm on Thursday.

Video posted on social media showed a white car with its trunk open up against the tall metal gates. The BBC’s footage appears to show the car slowing down before it hits the gate.

The PA news agency has reported Sunak was in Downing Street at the time of the incident, and departed after the crash as scheduled.

A Scotland Yard statement said: “At approximately 16:20hrs on Thursday, 25 May a car collided with the gate of Downing Street on Whitehall.

“Armed officers arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving. He has been taken into custody.

“There were no reports of any injuries.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.”

Ben Hatton/PA Wire

<img class="img-sized__img portrait" loading="lazy" alt="Handout taken from the Twitter feed of @TorbsTalks, of police at the scene after a car collided with the gates of Downing Street in London. ” width=”720″ height=”941″ src=”https://www.wellnessmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/car-crashes-into-gates-of-downing-street-4.jpg”>
Handout taken from the Twitter feed of @TorbsTalks, of police at the scene after a car collided with the gates of Downing Street in London.

@TorbsTalks@TorbsTalks/PA Wire

Downing Street, a narrow street with a row of Georgian houses, was open to the public until gates were erected in 1989 in response to threats from Irish Republican Army militants.

Public access to the street is restricted and the gates are protected at all times by armed police officers.

Tradition dictates that the prime minister lives at No.10 Downing Street and the chancellor of the exchequer at No.11.

Metropolitan Police later said that counter-terrorism police are not involved in the investigation at this stage.

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Kwasi Kwarteng Doesn’t Think People Are Angry With Him For Crashing The Economy

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Kwasi Kwarteng has refused to apologise for the financial meltdown unleashed by his time in office alongside Liz Truss – saying “what was done was done”.

The former chancellor also suggested people were not angry about mortgage rates soaring as a result of his mini-budget – and that instead they say “you tried your best”.

On September 23, Kwarteng announced the biggest raft of tax cuts for half a century. The mini-budget triggered turbulence in the financial markets, sending the pound tumbling and forcing the Bank of England’s intervention.

Truss ended up resigning after only 44 days in office, with her economic measures swiftly ripped up by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt and her successor in No 10, Rishi Sunak.

“I’m not going to apologise,” he told Channel 4 News on Wednesday.

“I’ve said very clearly, you know, what was done was done, but I don’t believe that politicians are endlessly, you know, apologising for everything that has gone in the past. I’m looking forward.”

Asked whether he felt people’s anger about crippling mortgage rates, he said “no”.

He added: “I know the media will want to go to a world where people are being angry and outrage … but actually, what I found is that some people will come up to people and say, ‘I’m very angry, I’m very upset.’ You get that.

“I’m very struck, actually, by the fact that people are ‘you tried your best. We understand what you were trying to do. It was difficult.’”

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Liz Truss Attacks Rishi Sunak Over China U-Turn

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Liz Truss has condemned Rishi Sunak for U-turning on his previous decision to describe China as a “threat” to global security.

The former prime minister will hit out at her successor – and former Tory leadership rival – in a speech in Taiwan.

Sunak made clear his concern about China last July during his battle with Truss to succeed Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

In a tweet, Sunak said: “China and the Chinese Communist Party represent the largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity this century.”

He also pledged to shut down the UK’s 30 Confucius Institutes, which promote and teach Chinese culture.

But speaking in March – four months after taking over from Truss in Number 10 – Sunak struck a more conciliatory tone by refusing to say he still saw China as a threat.

He said: “I don’t think it’s kind of smart or sophisticated foreign policy to reduce our relationship with China – which after all is a country with one and a half billion people, the second biggest economy, and member of the UN security council – to just two words.”

In a speech in Taiwan, Truss will call on Sunak to stand by what he said about China last year.

She will say: “Last summer the now British prime minister described China as ‘the biggest long-term threat to Britain’ and said the Confucius Institutes should be closed. He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently.

“The UK’s integrated review needs to be amended to state clearly that China is a threat. Confucius Institutes should be closed down immediately.”

Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving PM, also took a swipe at Sunak when she said “there have been too many mixed messages” about China by western leaders.

“There can be no more ambiguity,” she added.

Elsewhere in her speech, Truss will call on the west to defend Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression.

She will say: “We in the west have a collective responsibility not just to do the right thing by Taiwan, but also to hold the Chinese government to account for its actions.

“My visit this week is enabling me to communicate directly the solidarity that the British people have with the people of Taiwan.

“Taiwan really is a shining beacon in the Pacific. It’s an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism. It is an example of the power of free enterprise. It shows the importance of a free society for human happiness.

“We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you.”

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Rishi Sunak Is Partial To A Jilly Cooper ‘Bonkbuster’ Novel, Apparently

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In yet another unlikely-sounding moment for British politics, Rishi Sunak is reportedly a fan of Jilly Cooper’s erotic romance novel Riders – perhaps the very definition of the 1980s “bonkbuster”.

While a prime minister’s best-loved tome is usually a worthy affair, the current resident of No.10 apparently prefers something a bit more steamy – at least that’s according to the Spectator.

It’s worth noting the Spectator is well-sourced when it comes to Sunak: the magazine’s former political editor is now one of the PM’s closest Downing Street aides (and the best man at his wedding). So it’s not come from nowhere.

Whether Riders is actually one of his favourites, and not an attempt to humanise the geeky one-time tech bro (he has in the past expressed a very specific fondness for Mexican Coca-Cola) is anyone’s guess.

Cooper’s oeuvre captures the drama and excess of Britain’s affluent elite through her Rutshire Chronicles series. They do a lot of horse riding, among other things.

The action is focussed on galloping aristocrat Rupert Campbell-Black – later a Tory minister. Perhaps more famous is the book’s original cover of a female bottom clad in white jodhpurs and a male hand.

“Sex and horses: who could ask for more?,” noted the Sunday Telegraph in 1985, as the novel went on to become a runaway success.

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Tories Lose 1,000 Council Seats – Which Was Meant To Be Worst-Case Scenario

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The Conservative Party has been mocked after a dire set of local election results reached a benchmark.

At around 7.30pm on Friday, the Conservatives had lost more than 1,000 council seats in England – and rising – with some authorities still to declare.

For the last month, Tory party chairman Greg Hands has been telling anyone who will listen they were on course to lose 1,000 councillors.

But it doesn’t take a seasoned political watcher to know this is “expectation management” – a device used by all political parties during campaigning.

The idea is to set out the worst case scenario, so when it’s not so bad you have a positive story to tell. In short, the Conservatives really didn’t think the May 4 ballots would be this bad.

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “Rishi Sunak has delivered three things in the past 24 hours – pizza, bacon sandwiches and 1,000 seats lost for the Tories.”

Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting said: “I take it all back Greg Hands – I thought losing 1,000 Conservative councillors was a cynical expectation management exercise, not an ambition. What is the point of Rishi Sunak?”

Twitter was enjoying the show too – with the refresh button getting a hammering.

Rishi Sunak remained defiant despite heavy losses, with both Labour and the Lib Dems seizing control of Tory councils across England.

Keir Starmer’s party was projected to have won a nine-point lead over the Conservatives if all of Britain had gone to the polls, as the Tories slid backwards.

Labour seized councils in Tory MPs’ seats that would be hotly contested at a general election – including in Swindon, Medway, Dover and East Staffordshire.

Sunak conceded the results were “disappointing”, but said he was “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.

But the Tories will be concerned by Labour wins in the North, South and Midlands and a resurgent Lib Dems, as the prospect of a general election in 2024 looms.

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