Britain's Indian First Lady, Akshata Murty, made a surprise debut on the political stage on Wednesday when she stepped out to introduce best friend Rishi Sunak for his maiden speech as UK Prime Minister to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Murty, during her light-hearted and personal speech, claimed her husband was unaware of her gate-crashing as the warm-up act to the centrepiece of the annual conference and that her decision had also surprised their daughters, Krishna and Anoushka. The 43-year-old daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy went on to share her pride in Sunak's many achievements and how it was his honesty and integrity that had first attracted her to him when they met as students at Stanford University in their 20s. Rishi and I are each other's best friends; we are one team and I could not imagine being anywhere else than here today to show my support to him and to the party, said Murty. Rishi and I met when we were 24 when we were both studying
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday pledged to give everything he has got to fix the lingering problems of Brexit and clinch a new deal with the European Union (EU) that resolves the problematic Northern Ireland Protocol. The protocol, agreed by his former boss Boris Johnson, was struck to prevent a hard border between UK territory Northern Ireland and EU member-state Ireland. However, in practice, it has proved controversial and created a standoff between the UK and EU over a resolution until now, when hopes of a new deal have been revived after intensive talks. I voted for Brexit and I believe in Brexit because it offers vast opportunities for families and businesses across our whole country, writes Sunak in The Daily Telegraph'. He notes that while Brexit was about restoring the UK's sovereignty, the Northern Ireland Protocol had undermined that and created "serious barriers to trade within the United Kingdom, and that is unacceptable". "My job is to seize this ...
Announcing a "winter plan" to address inflation and the cost of living, Sunak's campaign said he would introduce a "targeted, temporary and timely tax cut" by removing VAT on domestic energy bills
Opinion polls suggest the governing Conservatives will lose hundreds of seats in elections that are considered a barometer of public opinion
The Indian diaspora, estimated to represent over 1 million votes in a UK election, were seen as being alienated by Labour since the motion was passed.
If no party wins conclusively, the Brexit deadlock will continue
Should new MPs be on right of party, Brexit will be the acceptable outcome of EU negotiations