Article Author:
Associated Press
Jill Lawless
London (AP) — Conservative government prepares for sweltering UK summers and cool autumn budgets action is increasing.
But the Conservative Party is busy picking a new leader through protracted party elections.
Britons' energy bills have skyrocketed and will rise further as the war in Ukraine strains the world's oil and gas supplies. The Bank of England is forecasting a long and deep recession with her 13% inflation later this year. Meanwhile, Britain's temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in her July, and millions of people are dreading water use as Britain's lush pleasant lands dry to a dry brown. We are facing limitations.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss and former Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak travel across the country, seeking her 180,000 party members to choose a successor to outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. As a result, there is little sense of crisis among the Conservatives. Under the UK parliamentary system, the winner of the Tory leadership election announced on 5 September will also become prime minister without the need for a national election.
Conservative members are mostly middle-aged and older, mostly middle-class or wealthy, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of the country as a whole.
"I would like to see the true policy of the Conservative Party," said Helen Garley, a lawyer and local Conservative official, who attended a candidate's conference in the seaside town of Eastbourne, England. said. “Lower tax rates, smaller states, less regulation, liberalization of industry and commerce from EU regulation. 's priorities are reflected in the campaigns of Truss and Snak, which have said they will tackle the cost of living crisis through long-term measures to boost the economy. Rather than giving people "subsidies," Truss said, they would cut personal and corporate taxes. Snack said it would tackle inflation before lowering taxes and provide unspecified help to those struggling to pay their bills.
Critics say neither candidate has grasped the scale of the crisis. Millions of households will face financial strain in his October, with the next increase in household energy bill caps linked to wholesale prices. Consulting firm Cornwall Insight estimates that the average household will pay more than £3,500 ($4,200) a year for gas and electricity.
Martin Lewis, a consumer advocate and owner of the popular Money Saving Expert website, says millions of people will have access to heating their homes this winter. “We are facing a potential national financial cataclysm,” it warned.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who led the UK during the 2008 global financial crisis, brings Johnson, Truss and Snack together to create an emergency budget in case of a 'financial time bomb'. I asked. October.
"It's not just sleeping. No one is at the wheel right now," Mr Brown, a member of the opposition Labor Party, told broadcaster ITV.
Brown's call, the Business of the Confederation of British Industry echoed his group Tony Dunker, saying, "There can be no leeway for the government to take a summer hiatus while leadership contests are taking place." said.
But with Parliament adjourned for the summer holidays and Prime Minister Johnson taking the final weeks off of his term, big policies are on hold. Several government announcements in recent weeks have been decidedly low-key, one being plans from the "Chewing Gum Task Force" to remove sticky dirt from the city's streets.
Johnson Prime Minister's spokesman Max Blaine said outgoing Prime Minister Johnson is barred from making "massive fiscal interventions" during the transition period and any new cost-of-living relief will have to be decided by the next prime minister.
"The Conservative Party, and therefore the government, are having a very different conversation with the public," said Alan Weger, a UK research fellow at the Change Europe think tank. rice field. "And it's a very serious time to have this very big disconnect."
I've been obsessed with snacks. This reminds me of the world outside the Conservative bubble. In Eastbourne, some climate activists who permeated the crowd rose to heckle Truss for failing to tackle the climate crisis. Taken away by a chant.
This environment is rarely featured in contests. Both Truss and Sunak say they will maintain the government's goal of net-zero UK carbon emissions by 2050, while offering policies to make it more difficult.
Truss says it will suspend environmental taxes used to fund renewable energy projects, supporting North Sea fracking and new North Sea oil and gas drilling . Snak wants to ban new onshore wind farms, but favors increasing offshore wind and nuclear power to reduce the UK's carbon footprint.
Political party polls suggest that the Truss likely have an unassailable lead in this contest. Snack has faced suspicion from some Tories after he resigned from the scandal-plagued government last month. The former finance minister has been portrayed by his opponents as a high-taxing, high-spending socialist-like figure as he spent billions of dollars to prop up the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. 68}
Truss calls itself a disruptor who is "bold" in cutting taxes and eliminating bureaucracy. This message is eagerly awaited by many Tories.
Party member Robbie Lamas, who is part of the "Liz for Leaders" contingent at the Eastbourne event, said he liked the Truss' "more optimistic view" of the economy.
"It is good to be bold and to challenge orthodoxy," he said.
Another audience member, Wilhelmina Felmore, said she was "stumbling", but said she was leaning in favor of Truss. I was.
But what is attractive to the Conservative Party is not necessarily attractive to the country. And Chris Curtis, head of political polling at research firm Opinium, said the candidates' economic promises would soon clash with harsh reality.
"Liz Truss believes tax cuts will solve this problem, but a large portion of the population is about to be hit," he said.
"It is not attractive to members of the Conservative Party to talk about how to help these people... This fall."