With a relatively modest 1.3 percentage point of GDP primary budget deficit likely this year, the UK isn't as far away from a debt-stabilizing balance as G7 peers the US, France and Italy are at least
The United Kingdom is home to a 1.8 million strong Indian diaspora, which can significantly influence the upcoming electoral outcomes
On July 4, voters across the United Kingdom will elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, with each member representing a local constituency
The polls that predict his party will win a lopsided majority in Parliament on Thursday also suggest that he is unloved by British voters
Once you make that decision on Thursday, there's no going back, he added
The 57-year-old, appointed in 2022 to stabilise the economy when former premier Liz Truss sparked a bond market rout, has focused as much on the local in his campaign
BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens said with interest rates not about to go back to ultra-low levels
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has portrayed himself as thorough and evidence-led throughout his relatively brief political career, but there's always been a nagging question over the keenness of his political antenna. The general election campaign over the past five weeks has clearly shown that he hasn't got the instinctive touch of some of his predecessors, such as Tony Blair or even Boris Johnson. Sunak's campaign has seen several missteps since he announced the July 4 election date in the pouring rain in late May, including his suspension of candidates mired in a scandal over betting on the date of the election a week after Labour Party leader Keir Starmer pressed him to do so. The biggest blunder one that prompted him to apologize was his decision to leave the 80-year D-day commemorations in northern France on June 6 early. Critics said the decision to skip the international event that closed the commemorations showed disrespect to the veterans and diminished the U.K.'s
Voters in the European Union are set to elect lawmakers starting Thursday for the bloc's parliament, in a major democratic exercise that's also likely to be overshadowed by online disinformation. Experts have warned that artificial intelligence could supercharge the spread of fake news that could disrupt the election in the EU and many other countries this year. But the stakes are especially high in Europe, which has been confronting Russian propaganda efforts as Moscow's war with Ukraine drags on. Here's a closer look: WHAT'S HAPPENING? Some 360 million people in 27 nations from Portugal to Finland, Ireland to Cyprus will choose 720 European Parliament lawmakers in an election that runs Thursday to Sunday. In the months leading up to the vote, experts have observed a surge in the quantity and quality of fake news and anti-EU disinformation being peddled in member countries. A big fear is that deceiving voters will be easier than ever, enabled by new AI tools that make it easy t
UK faces political shakeup: 78 Conservative Party MPs, including key ministers, announced their exit ahead of snap elections which are slated to be held on July 4
Voters in India, meanwhile, will cast ballots later this month, with self-styled strongman Narendra Modi expected to win a third term as prime minister in the world's most populous country
Public survey conducted by YouGov shows that the Opposition Labour Party is heading towards a landslide victory
In the run-up to the UK's general election that opinion polls show the governing Conservative Party losing, Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt will seek to regain the political initiative by announcing tax cuts Wednesday during his annual budget statement. With the British economy hitting one definition of recession and public finances stretched, he hasn't got much room for big tax cuts unless he lays out a plan for another period of austerity for already cash-starved public services. In comments released by the Treasury ahead of his budget, Hunt is set to tell Parliament that the British economy withstood the coronavirus pandemic and the sharp spike in energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent inflation soaring and prompting the Bank of England to raise interest rates aggressively. Of course, interest rates remain high as we bring down inflation," he plans to say. But because of the progress we've made, because we are delivering on the prime minister's economic ...
If negotiations are not wrapped up at the earliest, discussions will have to be taken forward after India's election, depending on the priority of the new government
Asserting that Suella Braverman should be sacked, an outgoing UK government aide has warned that keeping on the Home Secretary will result in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak losing the next election
Managing welfare spending while promoting business will be among his top tasks if he wins leadership contest
Describing himself as a "booster rocket" that has fulfilled its function, Boris Johnson used his farewell speech as British Prime Minister on Tuesday to lament that rules were "changed half way through and called on a fractious Conservative Party to get behind his successor, Liz Truss. "This is it folks, said Johnson, on the steps of Downing Street before leaving for Balmoral Castle in Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth II to formally resign as the head of government. The 58-year-old, who had announced his resignation in early July in the wake of pressure from within his Cabinet after a series of controversies including the partygate scandal of COVID lockdown law-breaking parties within government quarters, used the occasion to describe himself as a "booster rocket" and lamented the way he was forcibly pushed out of 10 Downing Street by Tory colleagues changing "rules halfway". "In only a couple of hours I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty the Queen and the torch will finally be
Liz Truss, a onetime accountant who has served in Parliament for the past 12 years, became Britain's prime minister on Tuesday after Queen Elizabeth II formally asked her to form a government. The ceremony, which took place at a royal residence in Scotland, followed a bruising two-month contest to succeed Boris Johnson, who formally offered his resignation to the queen shortly before Truss arrived to take up the mantle. The handover of power is governed by rules and traditions built up over the centuries, as the U.K. evolved from an absolute monarchy to a modern parliamentary democracy where the sovereign plays an important but largely ceremonial role as head of state. Here is a brief description of Tuesday's events and how Britain arrived at this point. HOW DID LIZ TRUSS BECOME PRIME MINISTER? Boris Johnson announced his intention to step down as prime minister and leader of the ruling Conservative Party on July 7, after dozens of Cabinet ministers and lower-level officials resig
Johnson journey was followed by Truss separately undertaking the same trip to be formally asked by Britain's head of state to form the next administration
Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss will spend Monday putting finishing touches to her new Cabinet after being elected Conservative Party leader and is expected to unleash a complete shake up of outgoing leader Boris Johnson's top team. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who lost the vote 57-43 per cent, said he was "proud" of the campaign he ran and indicated once again that he did not plan to serve in a Truss-led Cabinet if offered a job. "It's a real privilege to have the job that I've had, to have been chancellor at a time of enormous difficulty for our country and I am proud of my record as chancellor, helping safeguard our economy through the biggest [pandemic] shock it experienced in something like 300 years, he told the BBC in an interview after the election result. "I'm now going to be focussed on supporting my constituents first and foremost in North Yorkshire and continuing to be their member of Parliament as long as they'll have me and giving Liz Truss my full support a