There are a lot of candidates vying to take the hot seat Boris Johnson had to abandon. Leaders in the UK are campaigning hard to play the favourable cards, to become the next Prime Minister. But Rishi Sunak stands out.
The most well-known of the Conservative party’s potential leaders and a betting favourite to succeed Johnson, his public profile rose after he was appointed as the United Kingdom’s Treasury Secretary in 2020, a position that required him to oversee the billions of pounds distributed to businesses and workers during the coronavirus pandemic. But he is being chastised for not doing enough to alleviate the country’s escalating cost-of-living crisis. And even now, as Sunak’s fellow contenders promise tax cuts, the leader has chosen to keep his purse strings ‘tight’. How does that bear with the public and experts. And what are they saying about him?
News18 takes a look at some opinion articles out in UK publications on whether Sunak’s strategy is good enough to earn him the legislative crown:
‘Ready for Rish! But He Wasn’t Ready for Me’ (The Guardian)
John Crace, a British journalist and critic, working as the parliamentary sketch writer for The Guardian (known for its Left leanings), wrote a scathing piece against Sunak after the leader’s media campaign refused to extend an invitation to Crace, denying him a spot that was apparently given to more Tory-pleasing personalities.
“So it was personal. And the frontrunner to be our next prime minister was running scared. Rish! was so thinned-skinned he couldn’t even take a bit of criticism or gentle piss-taking. And at heart was against a free press. So much for the man who claims to love democratic values,” Crace wrote in his column, further explaining why Sunak’s opening presser had been far less kinder to criticism than his contenders – such as Tom Tugendhat. Read more
‘Unfortunately for Rishi, Tories Ready to Take a Risk’ (The Telegraph)
Even the Telegraph, which is known to be consistently right-leaning, does not seem to be kind to Sunak. Janet Daley, the American-born journalist who has etched herself a career in the country and has known to have a Conservative bent of mind, wrote in her opinion that Sunak increased taxes ‘to a level not seen for 70 years, but he chose to raise National Insurance contributions which is peculiarly regressive’.
“And then, in order to compensate the low paid for this disproportionate levy on their incomes, he would compensate them with some of that tax revenue he had collected. This is just good old fashioned wealth redistribution. No wonder the Tory party in the country is not enamoured,” she writes.
According to her, two relative unknowns are playing their cards better and could beat Sunak in the final race: “. Penny Mordaunt has played a brilliant hand and looks remarkably fresh and cogent. But the real shooting star is Kemi Badenoch who – as far as the general public is concerned – came from nowhere and spoke with startling courage and conviction. I expect that either of them could beat Rishi in the final contest, because the Tory party, contrary to myth, is almost always ready to take a risk with a fresh and brave personality.” Read more
‘Only Rishi Sunak is smart enough for tough times’ (The Times)
Matthew Parris, former Conservative MP and a writer for the ‘Centre-right’ The Times, argues in his comment that it is Sunak whose fiscally prudent campaign that could help the Tories during a difficult time. “Needs must when the Devil drives, and the Tories dare not flounder through the summer under a discredited prime minister in only notional control,” he writes. Read more
‘Rishi Sunak, the Lonely Tory Defending UK Fiscal Restraint’ (The Bloomberg)
While not exactly a UK publication’s endorsement or the opposite for Sunak, Markus Ashworth, who covers European markets for the Bloomberg, in his comment provides a sound picture of the background behind the various critiques against and defences for the ‘Ready for Rish!’ campaign. He explains how the Conservative MP faces a tough fight ‘with all of the other candidates pledging to reverse much of his fiscal legacy by cutting taxes’ and how ‘populism is alive and kicking’.
He argues that while his opponents ‘dangle’ economy-boosting policies Sunak is ‘offering thin gruel’.
“At his official campaign launch on Tuesday he emphasized he would not cut taxes until inflation is under control. That may be too long a wait for many of those who get to select the country’s next leader; Sunak’s emphasis that there won’t be a “fairy tale” ending when it comes to fiscal discipline is a tough line to defend when the UK is faced with the sharpest cost-of-living crisis in living memory,” Ashworth writes.
Ashworth explains that the rest of the field is nearly unanimous in opposing Sunak’s planned increase in corporation tax, which is set to rise to 25% from 19%, as well as reversing a 1.25 percent increase in national insurance — an income tax on employees and employers — that went into effect in April. According to Bloomberg, he writes, removing these measures would cost 34 billion pounds ($40 billion) per year.
Liz Truss, one of Sunak’s opponents, would implement both of these measures, promising to lower taxes from “day one” and further reducing fuel duty. In his first budget, Jeremy Hunt promises to reduce the basic rate of income tax to 15% (currently 20% but set to fall to 19% next year). And Penny Mordaunt has announced plans to reduce the fuel levy, but both she and Kemi Badenoch have limited themselves to vague intentions to reduce the tax burden. Read more
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News, watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Comments
0 comment