New British PM Rishi Sunak baulks at poll and puts budget on ice

Britain’s Prime Minister also restored a ban on fracking as he began trying to rebuild the Conservatives’ poll standing.

Rishi Sunak on his feet in the House of Commons during his first prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

In his first full day as Britain’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak on Wednesday delayed a crunch ­budget and rebuffed renewed ­demands for an early election as he began trying to rebuild the Conservatives’ poll standing.

Following the fiscal chaos seen under his short-lived predecessor, Liz Truss, Mr Sunak’s government said it needed more time to present the full budget – deferring a Treasury statement due next Monday to the middle of next month.

He also jettisoned a signature stance taken by Ms Truss, which he also backed during their summer battle for the leadership. After taking office, she had made good on the promise to overturn a ban on fracking – drilling on land for natural gas – but Mr Sunak said the ban would return.

The U-turn was back in line with the 2019 manifesto that last brought his Conservative Party to power. No company had yet come forward to take advantage of Ms Truss’s offer, which risked arousing serious opposition from locals in prospective drilling sites.

Following a meeting of his new cabinet, Mr Sunak engaged in his first parliamentary joust with ­Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is riding high in the polls and says the new Conservative leader lacks a democratic mandate.

“The only time he ran in a competitive election he got trounced by the former prime minister, who herself got beaten by a lettuce,” Sir Keir said, challenging Mr Sunak to face UK voters.

After the scandal-tarred Boris Johnson announced in July that he was quitting, Ms Truss beat Mr Sunak in a vote by Tory grassroots members. But her right-wing economic program, based on unfunded tax cuts, collapsed and she lasted only 49 days – with a lettuce lasting longer in one newspaper stunt. Mr Sunak then beat off an audacious comeback bid by Mr Johnson to become Tory leader on Monday.

“We will have to take difficult decisions to restore economic ­stability and confidence,” he told the House of Commons, brushing off Sir Keir’s election call.

“I will always protect the most vulnerable. We did it in Covid and we will do it again”.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt – retained in Mr Sunak’s cabinet along with several other senior ministers – said that Monday’s planned “medium-term fiscal statement” was no longer so pressing. Instead, there would be a full budget statement on November 17 to lay out the new government’s tax and spending plans, Mr Hunt said. The new plan would be accompanied by fresh economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which were lacking from Ms Truss’s own aborted plan, and would “stand the test of time”, he said.

Mr Hunt said he had discussed the delay with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey. The central bank was forced to make several emergency interventions after Ms Truss’s tax-slashing plans sent markets into a tailspin.

Markets were unperturbed by the postponement, suggesting Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak have successfully calmed investors’ nerves.

Ms Truss left office as the UK’s shortest-serving premier in history, replaced by its youngest since 1812 and first Hindu leader.

Mr Sunak triumphed in a 96-hour Tory leadership contest after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs and Mr Johnson aborted his own bid.

After appointing his top team on Tuesday, Mr Sunak spoke to the presidents of Ukraine and the US to vow continuity on UK ­foreign policy, including ongoing support for Kyiv’s resistance following Russia’s invasion.

Mr Sunak has vowed to restore “trust” and “integrity” in government after months of tumult under Mr Johnson and then Ms Truss. But critics claimed the new leader had immediately undermined the pledge by reappointing right-winger Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, days after she was forced to resign for a security breach. Ms Braverman emailed classified government documents outside her department that ­reportedly included market-sensitive information from the OBR.

Mr Sunak told the Commons in his first session of prime minister’s questions that she had “made an error of judgment” but had ­“accepted her mistake” and so he was “delighted to welcome her back”. Sir Keir said her return was “grubby” payback after Ms Braverman backed Mr Sunak against Mr Johnson’s attempt to return to Downing Street.

“There’s a new Tory at the top but as always with them, party first, country second,” the Opposition Leader said.

AFP