Page 7 - Uk Prime Minister

British PM Liz Truss says queen's death is 'difficult moment' for UK

British Prime Minister Liz Truss says the death of Queen Elizabeth II is a very difficult moment for the country, and acknowledged that dealing with it has been a challenge for her untested new government. Truss took office just two days before the queen died on Sept 8, and the first days of her term have been spent attending memorial services and the funeral of Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Truss has had to temporarily set aside her policy plans, and said she was focused on making sure we as a nation mourn her late majesty and welcome King Charles. It has been a momentous period and a period of great grief and sadness in the United Kingdom, and I think you have seen a huge outpouring of love and affection for her late majesty as well as a huge amount of warmth towards King Charles III, Truss told reporters late Monday as she flew to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. At the funeral we saw such huge public support and I have also seen that from world lead

Liz Truss, PM Modi agree on importance of bilateral ties over phone call

British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and agreed on the vital importance of the India-UK bilateral relationship. In their first phone call since Truss assumed office earlier this week, Modi conveyed his condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of all Indians and paid tribute to the 96-year-old late monarch's lifetime of service. The two leaders said they looked forward to meeting in person in the near future. The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi this afternoon, following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, Downing Street said in a readout of the phone call. "The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Modi for his heartfelt condolences, which he said were on behalf of 1.3 billion Indians. The leaders acknowledged the grief felt by the many people of the UK and India, and paid tribute to Her Majesty the Queen's lifetime of service, the statement said. The two agreed on the vital importance of the UK-Indi

UK PM Truss takes oath of loyalty to Britain's new monarch King Charles III

Prime Minister Liz Truss and senior members of her government have taken oaths of loyalty to King Charles III in the House of Commons. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was the first to pledge he will bear true allegiance to his Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, followed by the longest-serving lawmakers and the prime minister. All lawmakers pledge allegiance to the monarch after they are elected. Making a new vow when the monarch changes is not a legal requirement, but all 650 lawmakers will have a chance to retake the oath in the coming days if they wish. Normal parliamentary business has been suspended during a period of mourning for the queen. The House of Commons is holding a rare Saturday session so that lawmakers can pay tribute to the late monarch.

UK PM Liz Truss has told staff she expects them to wear ties and smarten up

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has warned scruffy dressers will need to smarten up, as she looks to distance her image from her predecessor, Daily Mail reported

UK leader Truss rules out windfall tax for oil companies amid energy crisis

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday ruled out a windfall tax on oil companies to pay for her plans to tackle the energy crisis. Speaking during her first session of prime minister's questions in the House of Commons, Truss rebuffed opposition calls for a new windfall tax, even as she refrained from explaining how she would fund a plan meant to help the public pay energy bills skyrocketing because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The plan is expected to be delivered on Thursday. "I am against a windfall tax," she said. "I believe it is the wrong thing to be putting companies off, investing in the United Kingdom just when we need to be growing the economy." Truss, 47, was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday after winning an internal election to lead the governing Conservative Party. In her first speech as prime minister on Tuesday, Truss said she would cut taxes to spur economic growth, bolster the NHS and deal hands on with the energy crisis, though s

UK PM Liz Truss' Cabinet is diverse in makeup and solidly on the right

Liz Truss's new Cabinet is Britain's most diverse ever, with women serving as prime minister and deputy prime minister and Black and South Asian politicians filling many of the top jobs. While they come from different backgrounds, the new ministers share Truss' small-state, free-market economic views and staunch support for Britain's exit from the European Union. The government's diversity reflects years of work by the right-of-centre Conservative Party to shake its pale, male and stale image. Former Prime Minister David Cameron, who was party leader between 2005 and 2016, made a push to draft diverse candidate shortlists for winnable seats. The drive has transformed the upper tiers of a party whose 172,000-strong national membership remains overwhelmingly white and largely male. Among Tory legislators, 24 per cent are women and 6 per cent belong to ethnic minorities. The main opposition Labour Party is more diverse and gets more support from non-white voters but has yet to have

UK PM Liz Truss inherits an economic storm, pledges to rebuild economy

Britain's new prime minister has pledged to rebuild the economy and ride out the storm gathering over the country, but Liz Truss faces a daunting job. She inherits an ailing economy on the brink of a potentially long recession, with record inflation that's forecast to worsen in coming months and millions crying out for government help to cope with soaring energy bills. Here's a look at the scale of the economic challenges that Truss faces and how she is expected to tackle them: HIGH ENERGY COSTS At the top of Truss' agenda is a cost-of-living crisis driven by spiralling natural gas and electricity costs. Starting in October, millions of households will see their average yearly energy bill jump to about 3,500 pounds (USD 4,000) almost triple what they paid a year ago. The bills are expected to continue to climb and could exceed 4,000 pounds in January. The sharp increases began last year, as economies worldwide recovered from the coronavirus pandemic and global demand for natural

UK PM Liz Truss appoints diverse Cabinet in complete shake-up of old guard

Prime Minister Liz Truss held her first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday after announcing one of the UK's most diverse Cabinets, with key frontline posts going to ethnic minority members of Parliament, including Indian-origin Suella Braverman as the Home Secretary. Another Indian-origin minister in the Cabinet, Agra-born Alok Sharma, retains his climate action job as the COP26 President, as does Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in a new top team that is otherwise a complete shake-up of the old guard. London-born junior minister Ranil Jayawardena, of mixed Sri Lankan and Indian heritage, has been promoted as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Many senior Tories, who had backed Truss' rival, British Indian former finance minister Rishi Sunak, find themselves without a job including former justice secretary Dominic Raab, transport secretary Grant Shapps and health secretary Steve Barclay. The process of appointing the Cabinet and .

Cost of living in UK: Why PM Liz Truss' low-tax strategy won't work

Cost of living: why Liz Truss' low-tax strategy won't work

Time for Liz Truss, says 'booster rocket' Boris Johnson in farewell speech

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

Why Liz Truss went to Scotland to become UK leader: An explainer

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

Liz Truss vows energy crisis action after becoming Britain's new PM

In her first speech as Prime Minister, Liz Truss says her government will 'transform Britain into an aspiration nation'

UK's third female PM Liz Truss 'very, very committed' to India ties

Britain got its third female Prime Minister on Tuesday as Liz Truss, who in her innings as foreign and trade minister batted for stronger bilateral ties with India, took charge at 10 Downing Street after defeating Indian-origin ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership race. The 47-year-old senior Cabinet minister is faced with one of the toughest in-trays in the top job as a result of the spiralling cost-of-living crisis in the country, which would rival any of the issues faced by her women predecessors in office, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. She must also contend with a fractious party that gave her a smaller margin of victory at 57 to 43 per cent than most recently elected Tory party leaders. But on the India front, the former International Trade Secretary who signed off on the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) for the Boris Johnson led government in May last year is expected to pursue the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations towards

Sunak, Patel doubtful to be included in Truss cabinet, says report

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

Queen Elizabeth II appoints Liz Truss as Britain's new Prime Minister

Conservative Party leader Liz Truss was on Tuesday formally appointed as Britain's new Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the third female premier of the country. Truss travelled to the 96-year-old monarch's Balmoral Castle residence in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to meet the Queen who formally asked her to form a new government. Earlier, outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson submitted his resignation to the Queen who is currently at Balmoral, her retreat in Aberdeenshire, for her annual vacation. Following her royal audience, 47-year-old Truss will be flown right back to 10 Downing Street in London to deliver her inaugural speech as the Prime Minister before going on to unveil some key Cabinet posts. On Monday, Truss defeated former chancellor Rishi Sunak to take charge as Britain's new Prime Minister. Attorney General Suella Braverman is expected to be the only Indian-origin MP in her top team, as the Goan-origin former leadership contender is expected to be promoted to

Global stocks, US futures rise as Europe wrestles with gas shortages

Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rose Tuesday as Liz Truss prepared to become British prime minister and Europe wrestled with uncertainty about Russian gas supplies. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Tokyo gained. Benchmark US crude rose more than $2 per barrel. The euro edged higher against the dollar. European markets were jolted by Friday's announcement that the suspension of Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be extended indefinitely. Shortages have pushed up prices and weigh on economic growth. Truss will have to hit the ground running as the U.K. prepares for a brutal winter," Craig Erlam of Oanda said in a report. Noting news reports that Truss plans to freeze energy bills, Erlam said the question is what impact it will have on inflation and gas demand. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.3% to 7,307.22 and Frankfurt's DAX advanced 0.4% to 12,816.01. The CAC 40 in France gained 0.2% to 6,103.77. On Wall Stree

UK PM-elect Liz Truss committed to 'sweet spot' of ties with India

Newly-elected Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister in waiting Liz Truss is among the senior British politicians known for championing deeper India-UK strategic and economic ties, describing them as a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics. After all, it was Truss as International Trade Secretary who signed off on the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) for the Boris Johnson led government in May last year, which marked the starting point of the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. The 47-year-old senior Cabinet minister made visits to India and held virtual talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, during which she described the country as a big, major opportunity. "I see the UK and India in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up," said Truss soon after signing the ETP. "We are looking at a comprehensive trade agreement that covers everything, from financial services to legal services to digital and data, as well as goods and agriculture.

Liz Truss beats Rishi Sunak in Tory leadership race to be new UK PM

'I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply,' Truss said in a speech following the result

Priti Patel resigns as UK Home Secretary hours after Liz Truss wins PM race

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday resigned from the Cabinet in a letter to the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and said she plans to support his successor Liz Truss from the backbenches of Parliament. The Indian-origin senior minister, a close ally of Johnson, was widely expected not to be included in the top line-up of Prime Minister elect Truss' top team. In her resignation letter addressed to Johnson, 50-year-old Patel highlighted her many achievements in the post, including a Migration and Mobility Partnership signed with India, among other countries, to tackle illegal migration. I congratulate Liz Truss on being elected our new leader and will give her my support as our new Prime Minister, she wrote in her resignation letter. It is my choice to continue my public service to the country and the Witham constituency from the backbenches once Liz formally assumes office and a new Home Secretary is appointed. From the backbenches, I will champion many of the policies an

PM-elect Liz Truss plans shake-up of UK Cabinet, Sunak unlikely to join

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