UK's New Prime Minister - Liz Truss

Good morning everyone. I’m Michele Carroll and welcome to the News Diet. Today I’m gonna talk about the newest UK Prime Minister - Liz Truss. Let’s be informed so we can get on with our day.

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Liz Truss has been named as the UK’s next Prime Minister. She’s a 47 year old conservative, currently serving as foreign secretary, and was voted in by the Conservative Party after a two-month leadership contest after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July after receiving blowback from a series of ethics scandals which included allegations of sexual misconduct and the violations of Covid-19 lockdown policies. Today, Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to formally appoint her.

Liz Truss actually used to be a Liberal Democrat, being raised by liberal parents, and even served as the President of Oxford University Liberal Democrats. But after graduation she joined the Conservative Party and is said to be a big fan of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who served in the role from 1979 to 1990 and was an advocate for smaller governments and free market policies. Ironically, Truss is taking over at a time when the economy is struggling in ways not seen since Thatcher’s term who lead the UK out of stagflation partly by cutting taxes and loosening economic regulations.

Here, the UK economy is grappling with skyrocketing energy costs, rising inflation, a weakening currency, not to mention backed up public services and labor shortages. There’s several reasons for this that are likely to require Prime Minister Truss to hit the ground running. The energy crisis, as well as the stubborn inflation is, like Europe, largely due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The UK is a net-importer of energy and food and other goods so they’re pretty vulnerable to the tumultuous global supply chain issues. According to the UK energy regulator, just next month the average British household will pay 3,549 pounds a year to heat their homes - which is triple the amount from last year. This energy regulator established a cap on energy prices, and its reported that this cap could be raised to 5,300 pounds by April. After all, energy usage is expected to go up in the winter to account for when the cold weather comes. The UK shut down its gas storage facility in 2017, so it doesn’t currently have any kind of reserves to help with the shortage.

These kinds of prices are hitting residents and businesses hard - according to government figures, bankruptcies in the UK rose 80% in the April to June period from the same time last year.

Ms. Truss already vowed to tackle the supply chain issues, and while most details have yet to be announced, she’s expected to promote lower taxes and deregulations as a way to keep more money in people’s possession as well as more freedom to try to grow their businesses.

But another issue facing the region is the strain being felt on some of the nation’s public services such the nationalized healthcare system. Due to, again, inflation affecting how far government spending can go, but also an aging population, there’s currently a backlog of 6.6 million patients waiting for health care treatment. There’s some reports of ambulances taking over an hour to arrive, when the target is usually 18 minutes.

But it’s not just the UK economy that Ms. Truss will have to tackle, she’ll also face several unfolding global events such as the Russia/Ukraine war, the China/Taiwan tensions, as well as other situations developing within China, as well as the affairs closer to home like the still-evolving aftermath of Brexit.

Truss will lbe the UK’s fourth Coonservative prime minister in six years - following Boris Johnson, Theresa May, and David Cameron. Due to the circumstances surrounded Johnson’s exit, the British parliamentary system held an internal election for the new prime minister. A wider election isn’t required until 2024.

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You’ve just been informed so now it’s time to get on with your day. I’m Michele Carroll. Thanks so much for listening.

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#liztruss #conservative #primeminister

Hosted by Michele Carroll.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62798300

https://www.wsj.com/articles/liz-truss-uk-economy-recession-inflation-energy-crisis-11662388777

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62742243

https://apnews.com/article/queen-elizabeth-ii-boris-johnson-london-economy-liz-truss-8e8b8d9ee58c5c9af9d33c603c7bf957?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss