Sunak blames striking doctors and consultants for the increase in NHS waiting lists
With NHS waiting lists having risen to 7.9 million, up from 7.2 million, since the autumn of last year, Rishi Sunak has this morning firmly attributed the increase to strikes by junior doctors and consultants. Mr Sunak pointed to how waiting lists had been appearing to fall, before the latest set of strikes. Taking listener’s […]
New North Sea oil and gas licences ‘absolutely the right thing to do’, PM insists
Rishi Sunak has today announced over 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences, saying that we will still require fossil fuels for decades to come. In a move likely to anger environmental campaigners, the prime minister has announced the 100 new licences as part of a visit to north-east Scotland focused on North Sea […]
Rishi Sunak’s tilt at a ‘net zero culture war’ is a sign of things to come
After the dust settled on Friday morning, with the electoral spoils split equally between the three main parties, the hunt was on for by-election night’s biggest loser. Today, with the initial period of Uxbridge-induced shock over, and the stage of reflection and learning quickly transposing into one of action, it now seems clear. After all, […]
Rishi Sunak’s by-election triple threat — results and analysis as it happened
It’s one-a-piece for the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservative Party. The Lib Dems have won in Somerton and Frome, overturning a majority of 19,000 at the last general election. The Conservatives held on in Uxbridge and Ruislip, winning narrowly with a majority of 495. They have ULEZ and Sadiq Khan to thank for that. Selby and Ainsty flipped for […]
Rishi Sunak: Conservatives set for ‘difficult’ and ‘challenging’ by-elections
The Conservatives will face “challenging” circumstances in upcoming by-elections, the prime minister has said. Rishi Sunak warned that “mid-term by-elections for incumbent governments are always difficult”, as he faced questions from reporters during the NATO summit in Lithuania. During the exchanges, it was pointed out to Mr Sunak that, if he loses all three scheduled […]
Post-Brexit arrangements in NI to form ‘critical component’ of Sunak-Biden meeting
In the next few hours, Joe Biden will arrive at No 10 for his sixth official meeting with Rishi Sunak. The US president touched down at Stansted Airport on Sunday evening before being taken by helicopter to the residence of the US ambassador in central London. Mr Biden’s stopover in Britain comes ahead of a […]
Week-in-Review: Rishi Sunak’s great slowdown offers Keir Starmer an opportunity
Tumbleweeds roll through Portcullis House. Crickets chirp in an empty commons chamber. Downing Street is a dustbowl of ideas as ministers twiddle their thumbs around the cabinet table. And where’s Rishi Sunak? Not at the despatch box for prime minister’s questions, that’s for sure. On Tuesday, the House of Commons adjourned at 5.46 pm, some […]
Rishi Sunak accuses Keir Starmer of ‘slavishly supporting’ Just Stop Oil
The prime minister has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “slavishly supporting” Just Stop Oil ahead of an emergency summit with major sporting bodies and police which he and his home secretary Suella Braverman are set to attend. The accusation, which came in an op-ed for The Sun newspaper, comes after Mr Sunak attended the Ashes […]
Week-in-Review: Rwanda ruling sums up Rishi Sunak’s problem of passivity
When Rishi Sunak took over as prime minister in October last year, his immediate problems were associated with his dire inheritance. Be it the mini-budget mortgage premium, the legacy of Boris Johnson’s lax standards regime or Britain’s overheated economy — the PM knew he risked being defined on terms far beyond his control. But Sunak […]
With his five pledges strategy under strain, might Sunak reach for the ‘dead cat’?
After a difficult first few months as prime minister, Rishi Sunak undertook in the New Year to define his time in Downing Street on the clearest possible terms. He called on the doubting public to “trust” him as he rolled out five shiny, new pre-election pledges: place your faith in me and inflation would “halve”, […]
