Aurelia Butler

Below are some reactions:KEIR STARMER, LEADER OF OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY”It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister.”But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale.”JUSTIN TOMLINSON, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF CONSERVATIVE PARTY”I was Team Boris, as the GE (general election) showed he was our star player who connected across traditional political divides. Yes there were ups and downs, but he turbo-charged social mobility and opportunity.”His resignation was inevitable. As a Party we must quickly unite and focus on what matters. These are serious times on many fronts.”ALISTER JACK, SCOTLAND MINISTER:“I am sad to see Boris Johnson stand down as Prime Minister. He has achieved a huge amount in office, including delivering Brexit, supporting the country through COVID, and leading the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most importantly, he has worked tirelessly to strengthen the Union.”KWASI KWARTENG, BUSINESS MINISTER”What a depressing state of affairs. So much needless damage caused. “We now need a new Leader as soon as practicable. Someone who can rebuild trust, heal the country, and set out a new, sensible and consistent economic approach to help families.”The wheels of Government must continue in the meantime.” SENIOR CONSERVATIVE LAWMAKER”Relief basically. And also sadness at a missed opportunity. A man destroyed by his own fundamental flaws.”GEORGE FREEMAN, CONSERVATIVE LAWMAKER AND FORMER MINISTER”We need Ministers back at their desks. “Now PM has finally done the decent thing he needs to hand in the seals of office, apologise to Her Majesty, allow her to appoint a Caretaker under whom Ministers can serve, so the Conservative Party can choose a new leader properly.”NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER”There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?”MICHELLE O’NEILL, LEADER OF SINN FEIN IN NORTHERN IRELAND”It has been an utter absurdity that the people here have been subjected to Boris Johnson for any length of time. He is a figure of absolute disrepute. Anyone who tries to sabotage our peace agreements, a quarter century of progress and our shared future is truly no friend of ours.”DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN “He doesn’t like us, we don’t like him either.”VYACHESLAV VOLODIN, RUSSIAN DUMA SPEAKER”He is one of the main ideologues of the war against Russia until the last Ukrainian. European leaders should think about where such a policy leads.” MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON”Boris Johnson was hit by a boomerang launched by himself … His comrades-in-arms turned him in.””The moral of the story is: do not seek to destroy Russia … Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it – and then choke on them.”EUROPEAN COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON”From our point of view, the political developments do not change our position on the (Northern Ireland) protocol or the way in which we work with our British counterparts on Northern Ireland.”Our position is that we should endeavour to seek solutions as regards to the implementation of the protocol.” More

The economy is expected to contract by annualized 0.5% pace in the second and third quarters of 2023, according to new forecasts from economists at Canada’s largest bank. Growth will average 0.8% next year, compared with 3.7% this year. The recession will be moderate and short-lived by historical standards and can be reversed once inflation settles enough for central banks to lower rates, economists Claire Fan and Nathan Janzen said in a note on Thursday. “Though higher rates will technically push Canada toward a contraction, the Bank of Canada now has little choice but to act,” Fan and Janzen said. “Inflation has been too strong for too long and is starting to creep into longer-run business and consumer expectations.”©2022 Bloomberg L.P. More

LONDON (Reuters) – The resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson deepens the uncertainty hanging over Britain’s economy, already under strain from an inflation rate heading for double digits, the risk of a recession and Brexit.The race to replace Johnson, who announced on Thursday that he would quit office, could take weeks. That would leave the world’s fifth-biggest economy at risk of further drift at a time when sterling is near two-year lows against the dollar and the Bank of England is in a dilemma about raising interest rates without damaging economic activity.The duration of Conservative Party leadership contests varies. Theresa May needed less than three weeks to win after David Cameron quit in 2016 as other contenders dropped out.But it took Johnson two months to become the new leader after May announced her intention to resign in 2019.At least half a dozen candidates are expected this time. Following is a summary of the key questions hanging over the British economy as the political drama plays out.INFLATIONEven more than many other countries, Britain is feeling the pressure of an inflation rate running at a 40-year high of 9.1%. The BoE thinks it will top 11% later this year.The International Monetary Fund said in April that Britain faced more persistent inflation, as well as slower growth, than any other major economy in 2023.Sterling’s recent fall has added to the inflation pressures since then, although the prospect of increased public spending or tax cuts to shore up the Conservative Party’s fortunes pushed up the pound a bit on Thursday.But whoever replaces Johnson can only do so much to offset the impact of the surge in global energy and food prices.FISCAL POLICYWhoever succeeds Johnson must take big decisions on tax and spending that could reduce the risk of a recession but might also add to the inflationary heat in the economy.When he quit as finance minister on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak said he had disagreed over policy with Johnson, who had long pushed for more tax cuts. Sunak’s short-term priority before he resigned was to ease the burden of Britain’s debt, which jumped above 2 trillion pounds during the coronavirus pandemic.Analysts at U.S. bank Citi said they expected Conservative Party leadership contenders Priti Patel and Liz Truss, who served as Johnson’s interior and foreign ministers, might call for quick tax cuts and higher spending, while Sunak and former health minister Sajid Javid were likely to be more fiscally cautious.The long-term implications of their decisions will be high.Britain’s budget watchdog said on Thursday that debt could more than triple to almost 320% of GDP in 50 years’ time if future governments do not tighten fiscal policy.BREXITMore than six years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, London and Brussels remain at loggerheads due to Johnson’s insistence on rewriting the rules – which he agreed to in 2019 – for trade involving Northern Ireland.The possibility of improved relations with the EU under a new prime minister has prompted some economists to pencil in stronger British exports and investment although any changes in the overall trading relationship are likely to be modest.Furthermore, some front-runners to replace Johnson, chiefly foreign minister Truss, publicly backed his combative stance towards the EU.BANK OF ENGLAND Britain’s central bank has raised interest rates five times since December, its steepest run of hikes in 25 years, and it has signalled it will keep on increasing them, possibly by as much as half a percentage point at its next meeting in August.But the risk of a global economic slowdown has recently reduced bets by investors on that kind of big move by the BoE. Uncertainty over Britain’s fiscal policy direction could provide another reason for caution. MORE POLITICAL CHAOS?While the exit of Johnson ends another chapter in one of the most tumultuous periods in modern British political history, it remains to be seen if his successor can calm things down.Kallum Pickering, an analyst at Berenberg, said Britain’s economy would benefit if Johnson was replaced by “a more diligent and serious individual”.But the Citi analysts said they were sceptical that the different factions within the Conservative Party would unify around a clear strategy.”In the months ahead, we see a UK heading into a once-in-a-generation squeeze in living standards, absent a defined strategy, and facing deep governmental division. The risk of profound policy error is therefore significant,” they said.”An early election should also not be discounted, though we still expect a contest only in 2024.” More

LONDON (Reuters) – Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was resigning as Britain’s prime minister, bowing to calls from ministerial colleagues and lawmakers in his Conservative Party.Below is a summary of some of those who could be in the frame to replace him. However, there is no clear favourite and they are not listed in order of likely prospects.LIZ TRUSS The foreign secretary is the darling of the ruling Conservative Party’s grassroots and has regularly topped polls of party members carried out by the website Conservative Home.Truss has a carefully cultivated public image and was photographed in a tank last year, echoing a famous 1986 photo of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.The 46-year-old initially campaigned against Brexit but, after the referendum, said she had changed her mind.She spent the first two years of Johnson’s premiership as international trade secretary and was last year appointed as Britain’s lead negotiator with the European Union.Truss is now in charge of dealing with the EU over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, where she has taken an increasingly tough line in negotiations.She said on Monday that Johnson had her “100% backing” and she urged colleagues to support him.JEREMY HUNTThe former foreign secretary, 55, finished second to Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest. He would offer a more serious and less controversial style of leadership after the turmoil of Johnson’s premiership.Over the last two years, Hunt has used his experience as a former health secretary to chair parliament’s health select committee and has not been tarnished by having served in the current government.Earlier this year, he said his ambition to become prime minister “hasn’t completely vanished”. Hunt said he voted to oust Johnson in a confidence vote last month that the prime minister narrowly won.Hunt supported remaining in the EU ahead of the 2016 vote. It is unclear whether he would feel the need to maintain a tough line against Brussels, to win the support of Conservative voters, or whether he could pursue a more pragmatic relationship to improve post-Brexit trade. BEN WALLACEDefence minister Ben Wallace, 52, has risen in recent months to overtake Truss as the most popular member of the government with Conservative Party members, according to Conservative Home, thanks to his handling of the Ukraine crisis.A former soldier, he was mentioned in dispatches in 1992 for an incident in which the patrol he was commanding captured an Irish Republican Army guerrilla unit suspected of trying to carry out a bomb attack on British troops.He began his political career as a member of Scotland’s devolved assembly in May 1999, before being first elected to the Westminster parliament in 2005.He was security minister from 2016 until taking on his current role three years later, winning plaudits as his department evacuated British nationals and allies from Afghanistan last year, and for sending weapons to Kyiv. He supported remaining in the EU ahead of the referendum.RISHI SUNAKSunak, who resigned as finance minister on Tuesday saying the British public “rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”, was until last year the favourite to succeed Johnson. He was praised for a COVID-19 economic rescue package, including a costly jobs retention programme that averted mass unemployment.But Sunak later faced criticism for not giving enough cost-of-living support to households. Revelations about his wealthy wife’s non-domiciled tax status and a fine he received, along with Johnson, for breaking COVID lockdown rules have damaged his standing.His tax-and-spend budget last year put Britain on course for its biggest tax burden since the 1950s, undermining his claims to favour lower taxes.Sunak voted to leave the EU in 2016.SAJID JAVIDJavid was the first cabinet minister to resign in protest over accusations that Johnson misled the public over what he knew about sexual harassment allegations against a Conservative lawmaker.A former banker and a champion of free markets, Javid has served in a number of cabinet roles, most recently as health minister. He resigned as Johnson’s finance minister in 2020.The son of Pakistani Muslim immigrant parents, he is a Thatcher admirer and finished fourth in the 2019 leadership contest to replace former Prime Minister Theresa May. Javid supported remaining in the EU “with a heavy heart and no enthusiasm”, saying he feared the fallout from a leave vote would add to economic turbulence. NADHIM ZAHAWIThe newly appointed finance minister impressed as vaccines minister when Britain had one of the world’s fastest rollouts of COVID shots. Zahawi’s personal story as a former refugee from Iraq who came to Britain as a child sets him apart from other contenders.He co-founded polling company YouGov before entering parliament in 2010. His last job was as education secretary. Zahawi said last week it would be a “privilege” to be prime minister at some stage. He supported leaving the EU.PENNY MORDAUNTThe former defence secretary was sacked by Johnson when he became prime minister after she endorsed his rival, Hunt, during the last leadership contest.Mordaunt was a passionate supporter of leaving the European Union and made national headlines by taking part in a now-defunct reality TV diving show. Currently a junior trade minister, Mordaunt called the lockdown-breaking parties in government “shameful”. She had previously expressed loyalty to Johnson.Mordaunt campaigned to leave the EU in 2016.TOM TUGENDHATThe chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and a former soldier who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, has already indicated he would run in any leadership contest. He has been a regular critic of Johnson and would offer his party a clean break with previous governments.However, he is relatively untested because he has never served in cabinet.He voted to remain in the EU.SUELLA BRAVERMAN A Brexit-backing Attorney General, Braverman has said she plans to run for the leadership. She was heavily criticised by lawyers during her tenure after the government sought to break international law over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland. She campaigned to leave the EU and served as a junior minister in the Brexit department under May, but resigned in protest at the then prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal, saying it did not go far enough in breaking ties with the bloc.($1 = 0.7971 pounds) More

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain faces an unsustainable debt burden more than three times its current level unless future governments raise taxes to fund increasing costs from an ageing population and falling revenue from taxation on motor fuel, a watchdog warned on Thursday.Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), a government agency, said debt was on course to reach more than 320% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 50 years’ time – up from 96% or 2.4 trillion pounds ($2.9 trillion) currently – if successive governments failed to tighten fiscal policy.”The pressures of an ageing population on spending and the loss of existing motoring taxes in a decarbonising economy leaves public debt on an unsustainable path in the long term,” the OBR said.Britain’s government has pledged to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2030. Fuel duties are currently a big source of tax revenue, while household electricity is fairly lightly taxed. The watchdog’s report just before Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation, sparking a contest for the Conservative Party leadership in which candidates will be under pressure to promise tax cuts.”Tax cuts can of course be financed by spending reductions. But if they are financed by greater borrowing then, yes it puts more pressure on and arguably comes with additional risks in an economy that is running with high inflation,” OBR board member Andy King told reporters.OBR chair Richard Hughes said his main message to Britain’s new finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, was to prepare for unpredictable fiscal shocks such as the recent, hugely costly, COVID-19 pandemic.The OBR’s baseline forecast shows debt as a share of GDP falling over the next 20 years – partly due to short-run gains from a lower birthrate and slower increases in life expectancy – before rising to 267% of GDP in 50 years’ time.To return to pre-COVID debt ratio of 75% of GDP would require extra tax rises or spending cuts of 1.5% of GDP or 37 billion pounds every decade for the next 50 years, the OBR said.Adding in the type of economic shocks that have hit Britain’s economy since World War Two, and the debt burden would rise above 320% of GDP without corrective action.The deteriorating global geopolitical situation – exemplified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – could push debt even higher, the OBR said.Debt could hit 430% of GDP in 50 years’ time if Britain raised defence spending to 3% of GDP from 2%, suffered a big one-off hit from a cyber-attack and faced persistent damage from a global trade war.($1 = 0.8347 pounds) More