- Title: With British pound in turmoil, where is PM Truss?
- Date: 19th July 2022
- Summary: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 11, 2021) (AGENCY POOL) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN ARRIVING AT G7 SUMMIT OF FOREIGN MINISTERS/ FIST BUMPING TRUSS
- Embargoed: 2nd August 2022 15:07
- Keywords: Boris Johnson Conservative leadership EMMANUEL MACRON IRELAND Liz Truss Prime Minister UK foreign secretary
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: UK
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA007843301011970RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: British Prime Minister Liz Truss has not appeared this week, while the value of the pound and British bonds have collapsed since a fiscal announcement made by her new Chancellor on Friday (September 23).
Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said on Wednesday (September 28) that the government should recall parliament and abandon plans set out last week to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing which have sent financial markets into turmoil.
Parliament is currently in recess while the main British political parties hold their annual conferences. It is due to return on Oct. 11. Other opposition parties have also called for parliament to return early.
After four straight general election defeats, the Labour Party is now seen by voters as best placed to run the economy after the government unveiled a fiscal program that triggered a sell-off in British bonds, a sharp fall in the pound and rare criticism from the IMF.
Forty-five percent of voters said they would back Labour, compared to 28% opting for the Conservatives, according to a poll by YouGov this week, with the 17-point lead the biggest ever recorded for Labour by the pollster in the more than two decades it has been conducting surveys.
The pound crashed to a record low on Monday (September 26) after British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced a huge increase in borrowing to pay for the biggest tax cuts since 1972.
Labour has criticized the plan for benefiting the wealthiest and ignoring lower-paid workers and the country's struggling National Health Service.
Kwarteng told investment bank executives on Wednesday that the government was committed to fiscal discipline and that he was working closely with the Bank of England and budget forecasters.
"The Chancellor underlined the government's clear commitment to fiscal discipline and reiterated that he is working closely with the Governor of the Bank of England and the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) ahead of delivering his Medium Term Fiscal Plan on 23 November," a Treasury readout of the meeting said.
The statement made no reference to market turmoil or the Bank of England's surprise intervention in bond markets earlier on Wednesday.
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