Rishi Sunak Shuns Prime Minister Role
British Chancellor Rishi Sunak was not keen on replacing Boris Johnson as prime minister, saying the role was “a job [that was] hard enough” for him to do.
“[I am] definitely not seeing what the Prime Minister has to deal with,” Sunak was quoted as saying in a report by Yahoo UK.
Sunak said that he shared a very close personal relationship with Johnson which spread through the teams where there was an enormous amount of mutual trust.
Sunak shared Johnson even called him by his moniker “Rish.”
“I call him Prime Minister. He keeps trying to tell me to call him other things… but I just stick with PM,” he said.
Britain to support jobs amid a pandemic
During his speech at the 2020 Conservative party conference, Sunak said that his party will “always balance the books,” signaling plans to reduce public borrowings and debt levels.
Among the measures, the government planned to execute to help revive the economy include supporting jobs as well as reducing taxes and business loans.
“I am committing myself to a single priority – to create, support, and extend opportunity to as many people as I can,” Sunak was quoted as saying.
“We have a sacred responsibility to future generations to leave the public finances strong. And through careful management of our economy, this Conservative government will always balance the books,” he added.
He said that the government would bring borrowing and debt levels under control over the medium-term.
Official figures released last month showed that government debt as of late August was at £2 trillion, or 1.9% higher than the output of the entire British economy.
Britain also recorded the highest debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio since 1961 as growth was dampened at the fastest quarterly rate on record when the lockdown was imposed earlier this year.
With borrowing costs now at an all-time low and while the economy was still reeling from the crisis, financial experts argued that continued stimulus should remain and was more important than reining in borrowing.
“I have never pretended there is some easy cost-free answer. Hard choices are everywhere,” Sunak said.
In a separate statement, Johnson acknowledged that there would be “tough times ahead” in the jobs market.
This after thousands of employees at Cineworld were on a floating status after the company announced the temporary closure of its UK cinemas on Monday morning.
To recall, Britain temporarily banned businesses belonging to the entertainment sector to help contain the spread of the virus.
PHOTO FROM FLICKR
