- Most Asian markets extend AI-fuelled rally
- Bangladesh student revolutionaries' dreams dented by joblessness
- Larry Ellison, tech's original maverick, makes Trump era return
- Political crisis hits South Korea growth: central bank
- Les Paul owned by guitar god Jeff Beck auctioned for over £1 mn
- Musk bashes Trump-backed AI mega project
- Does China control the Panama Canal, as Trump claims?
- Yemen's Huthis say freed detained ship's crew after Gaza truce
- Mel B, Trump and Milei: What happened at Davos Wednesday
- Argentina's Milei says would leave Mercosur for US trade deal
- Fashion world 'afraid' of Trump, says Van Beirendonck
- P&G sees China improvement but consumers 'still struggling'
- Stock markets mostly higher as they track Trump plans, earnings
- Anti-Semitic acts at 'historic' highs in France despite 2024 fall: council
- Trump's meme coin venture sparks backlash
- Global green energy push likely to continue despite Trump climate retreat: UN
- Prince Harry settles lawsuit against Murdoch's UK tabloids
- Stock markets diverge tracking Trump plans
- Sudan 'political' banknote switch causes cash crunch
- Masa Son, Trump's Japanese buddy with the Midas Touch
- Borussia Dortmund sack coach Nuri Sahin after Champions League setback
- 'Love for humanity': Low-crime Japan's unpaid parole officers
- Brazil saw 79% jump in area burned by fires in 2024: monitor
- No home, no insurance: The double hit from Los Angeles fires
- Tamkeen Launches ‘Bahrain Skills and Gender Parity Accelerator’ at Davos
- ZeroPath Corp. Launches Next-Generation Code Security Platform Powered by Artificial Intelligence
- Rare snow socks New Orleans as Arctic blast chills much of US
- Trump's birthright citizenship move challenges US identity: analysts
- German opposition leader Merz urges united EU stance on Trump
- Canada vows strong response, Mexico urges calm in face of Trump threats
- Trump's climate retreat will have 'significant impact' on COP30: Brazil
- Beckham, protests, crypto's new dawn: what happened at Davos Tuesday
- Pharrell kicks off Paris Fashion week with Louvre show
- Dutch researchers employ unique e-bike to make cycling safer
- Blast kills one person at Barcelona port
- France's arch film provocateur Blier dies at 85
- Stocks diverge, dollar rallies as Trump gets to work
- Syrians return to homes devastated by war
- Pharrell pursues Paris landmark takeovers with Louvre show
- EV sales slip in Europe in 2024 in overall stable car market
- 'Too hard': Vietnam's factory workers return to country life
- Trump 2.0 boosts interest in Davos: World Economic Forum chief
- Asian markets swing as Trump revives tariff fears on taking office
- Brazil drought lights a fire under global coffee prices
- The global forces sending coffee prices skyward
- Trump leaves Paris climate agreement, doubles down on fossil fuels
- Trump decrees end of diversity programs, LGBTQ protections
- Prince Harry's battle against Murdoch UK tabloids goes to trial
- Trump vows to plant flag on Mars, omits mention of Moon return
- Trump vows to 'tariff and tax' other countries
RBGPF | 0.26% | 62.36 | $ | |
SCS | -1.9% | 11.58 | $ | |
NGG | -2.56% | 60.05 | $ | |
BCE | -1.04% | 23.15 | $ | |
VOD | -2.03% | 8.38 | $ | |
BCC | -0.94% | 127.92 | $ | |
RELX | -0.59% | 49.26 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.17% | 23.96 | $ | |
RYCEF | 2.02% | 7.42 | $ | |
RIO | -1% | 61.12 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.26% | 23.49 | $ | |
GSK | -1.05% | 33.43 | $ | |
JRI | -0.32% | 12.53 | $ | |
AZN | 0.35% | 68.2 | $ | |
BTI | -0.44% | 36.57 | $ | |
BP | -1.25% | 31.13 | $ |
New UK PM Truss promises to 'ride out' economic storm
Liz Truss on Tuesday promised that Britain would see sunnier days ahead despite the current economic gloom, as she made her first speech as prime minister after taking over from Boris Johnson.
Heavy rain and thunder forced supporters of the country's third female prime minister to scramble for cover as they waited for her to arrive in Downing Street.
But the clouds lifted as the 47-year-old former foreign secretary's motorcade swept in, and she vowed that the country would "ride out the storm" of double-digit inflation and soaring energy prices.
"I will take action this week to deal with energy bills and to secure our future energy supply," she said.
"As strong as the storm may be, I know that the British people are stronger," she added, outlining her priorities as the economy, energy and health.
Truss was announced winner of an internal vote of Conservative party members on Monday, after a gruelling contest that began with Johnson's resignation in July.
She arrived in Downing Street after a 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometre) round trip from London to see Queen Elizabeth II in the Scottish Highlands, where she accepted the invitation to form a government.
The 30-minute audience was held at the head of state's remote Balmoral retreat as the queen, 96, was deemed unfit to return to London due to ill health.
As soon as Thursday, Truss is expected to sanction a freeze on household energy bills to prevent steep hikes this winter, and possibly beyond, at a cost of tens of billions of pounds.
- Energy crisis -
Her new team is due to be assembled in time for a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning before her first appearance in parliament as prime minister.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to become finance minister, with Attorney General Suella Braverman moved to the tricky brief of home secretary, and James Cleverly to foreign affairs.
If confirmed, it would mean no white men in any of Britain's four main ministerial posts for the first time ever.
The incoming prime minister faces a daunting to-do list, with the UK in the grip of its worst economic crisis in decades.
Hard-pressed households facing 80-percent increases in electricity and gas bills from October have demanded immediate action to prevent millions being forced to choose between heating and eating this winter.
Businesses have also warned they could be forced to close because of even steeper hikes in energy costs.
Truss, who touts herself as a free-market liberal, has promised tax cuts to stimulate growth, despite warnings that greater borrowing could make inflation worse.
The contrast to her beaten leadership rival Rishi Sunak's more cautious approach has opened another rift in the Conservative party that was already divided by Johnson's departure.
Recent opinion polls suggest a sizeable chunk of the British public have no faith in her ability to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
A new poll by YouGov said only 14 percent expect Truss -- the fourth Tory prime minister in six years -- to do a better job than Johnson.
- Comeback? -
Johnson, whose tenure was dominated by Brexit and Covid and cut short by a succession of scandals, earlier promised Truss his unswerving support as he made a farewell speech in Downing Street.
"I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new government every step of the way," he said, before leaving for Balmoral to tender his resignation to the queen.
He urged the Tories to put aside their ideological differences which have seen the party fight like cats and dogs over how best to tackle the energy crisis.
"If Dilyn (his dog) and Larry (the Downing Street cat) can put behind them their occasional difficulties then so can the Conservative party," he added.
But former newspaper polemicist Johnson failed to dampen speculation that he is eyeing a potential return to the political front line.
"Like Cincinnatus, I am returning to my plough," he said. Latin scholars were quick to point out that the Roman statesman eventually returned to politics.
Johnson, 58, remains popular among grassroots Tories as a charismatic election winner who took the country out of the European Union.
Speculation has swirled that he could bide his time for a comeback, particularly if Truss struggles to overcome the country's many problems.
In her acceptance speech on Monday, Truss ruled out seeking her own mandate from the public at an early general election, vowing victory in 2024.
A.Agostinelli--CPN