Outgoing Prime Minister Johnson resigns to the Queen Truss was appointed Prime Minister in Scotland The new PM faces scary media in the disc
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth appointed Liz Truss as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday, tasked with steering the country through a looming recession and energy crisis that threatens the future of millions of households and businesses. Truss, the fourth Conservative prime minister in six years, flew home to the Scottish royal family to be asked by the 96-year-old monarch to form a government. He replaces Boris Johnson, who was forced to step down after three tumultuous years in office. “The Queen received an audience with the Right Honorable Elizabeth Truss MP today and asked her to form a new administration,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Mrs Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands on her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.” Truss will face one of the most daunting lists of problems of any post-war leader in Britain, with inflation in double digits, energy costs soaring and the Bank of England warning of a long recession by the end of this year. Her plan to stimulate the economy through tax cuts while potentially offering around 100 billion pounds ($116 billion) to curb energy costs has already roiled financial markets, prompting investors to dump the pound and government bonds in recent weeks. She also enters the latest crisis to hit Britain with a weaker political hand than many of her predecessors, after defeating rival Rishi Sunak in a Conservative Party vote by a wider margin than expected, and with more of the party’s lawmakers to initially support her opponent. . Johnson, who tried to stay in power in July despite a mass resignation of ministers amid a series of scandals, told reporters and politicians gathered in Downing Street early on Tuesday that it was time to unite the country. “These are guys,” Johnson said in his farewell address. “What I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for the politics to end, folks. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her agenda.” After speaking outside the famous black door, he left London to travel to north-east Scotland and submit his resignation to the Queen before Truss followed him to Balmoral Castle to be asked to replace him. Johnson used his retirement to boast about his successes, including an early vaccine program during the coronavirus pandemic and his early support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Queen Elizabeth welcomes Liz Truss during an audience where she called on the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become prime minister and form a new government, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, Britain, September 6, 2022. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS read more He also cited “delivering Brexit” as one of his main achievements, although polls now show a majority of people believe leaving the European Union was a mistake.
CHANGE OF THE RULES
Johnson’s speech was full of bombast and funny characterizations of a man once loved by much of the British public but also hated by many. He has refused to show remorse for the scandals that have brought him down, including “Partygate”, a series of boring Downing Street rallies while the country was in lockdown over COVID-19, for which he was fined by the police. Britain, under Conservative rule since 2010, has stumbled from crisis to crisis in recent years and there is now the prospect of a protracted energy emergency that could drain household savings and threaten the future of smaller businesses that still burdened by COVID- season loans. Household energy bills are expected to rise by 80% in October, but a source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Truss may freeze bills in a plan that could cost around £100bn, overriding the COVID furlough scheme -19. It is unclear how Britain will pay for the support. Government-backed loans to energy suppliers, repaid either by contributions to future bills or through general taxation, are considered according to the source. But the scale of the package, plus the fact that the energy crisis could last for a few years, has spooked investors. The pound has done worse against the US dollar than most other major currencies recently. In August alone, sterling lost 4 percent against the dollar and was the worst month for 20-year British government bonds since around 1978, according to data from Refinitiv and the Bank of England. Britain’s public finances also remain burdened by the government’s massive coronavirus spending spree. Public debt as a share of economic output is not far from 100%, up from around 80% before the pandemic. ($1 = 0.8638 pounds) Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Kate Holton writes. additional reporting by Michael Holden, Alistair Smout, Andy Bruce, Paul Sandle and Muvija M. Editing by Angus MacSwan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
