Report by Yashasvi Anika Tandon and Rohit Dandem
Mr. Rishi Sunak, who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) in the Boris Johnson government, has recently taken over as the Prime Minister (PM) of UK.
How he became the Prime Minister
The British Parliament follows a bicameral system (comes from the Latin word ‘bi’ which means two, and ‘camera’ which means chambers) which means that it has two legislative houses- The House of Commons and The House of Lords; the same way we have Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in India.
The House of Commons is a house of elected members and the house above it is called The House of Lords.
The House of Lords has appointed and hereditary members.
Presently, there are 792 people in The House of Lords. The party having the greatest number of representatives in the parliament forms the UK Government.
For a candidate to become PM, the person is required to have at least a 100 MPs of his own party supporting him or her.
Rishi Sunak had received the support of 100 MPs of his party and became the PM.
The other candidates in the race were – Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, Ben Wallace, and former PM Boris Johnson.
First, Jeremy Hunt and Ben Wallace withdrew from the race for the PM. Then, Boris Johnson also withdrew, followed by Penny Mordaunt.
As there was no other candidate but Rishi Sunak left in the race, that too with the support of 100 MPs from his party, he became the PM of UK.
Rishi Sunak’s new Cabinet
The members of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet are:
Dominic Raab(Deputy Prime Minister),
Jeremy Hunt(Chancellor),
Suella Braverman(Home Secretary),
James Cleverly(Foreign Secretary),
Ben Wallace(Defence Secretary),
Nadhim Zahawi(Minister without portfolio),
Oliver Dowden(Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster),
Therese Coffey(Environment secretary),
Grant Shapps(Business Secretary),
Penny Mordaunt(Leader of the Commons),
Mel Stride(Work and Pensions Secretary),
Gillian Keegan(Education Secretary),
Steve Barclay(Health Secretary),
Mark Harper(Transport Secretary),
Michael Gove(Levelling up Secretary),
Kemi Badenoch(International Trade Secretary),
Michelle Donelan(Culture Secretary),
Simon Hart(Chief Whip),
Chris Heaton-Harris(Secretary of State for Northern Ireland),
Alister Jack(Secretary of State for Scotland),
David T.C. Davies(Secretary of State for Wales),
Lord True (Leader of the Lords),
Victoria Prentis (Attorney general),
John Glen (Chief secretary to the Treasury),
Jeremy Quin (Paymaster General),
Johnny Mercer (Minister for Veterans’ Aaffairs),
Tom Tugendhat (Minister for security),
Gavin Williamson (Minister without portfolio),
Robert Jenrick (Minister for immigration),
Andrew Mitchell (Minister for Development),
and the Prime Minister himself; Rishi Sunak. T
he people who served in Elizabeth Truss’s cabinet as well are Jeremy Hunt, Suella Braverman, James Cleverly, Ben Wallace, Nadhim Zahawi, Therese Coffey, Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch, Michelle Donelan, Chris Heaton-Harris, Alister Jack, Lord True, and Tom Tugendhat.
The newly appointed people are Gillian Keegan, David T.C. Davies, Victoria Prentis, John Glen, and Jeremy Quin.
Rishi Sunak’s policies as a Former Chancellor of the Exchequer
1. The fracking ban
Mr Sunak said that the ban on fracking would be reinstated, reversing the decision made by his predecessor, Liz Truss. This was later confirmed by his official spokesman.
What is fracking and why is it dangerous?
Fracking uses high-pressure fluid injections to break rock formations and remove natural gas. Fracking has been blamed for leaking millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas more lethal than carbon dioxide.
2. Will benefits increase along with inflation?
No. 10 did not confirm raising benefits in sync with inflation but said this would be a matter for the chancellor on 17 November. However, Mr Sunak was in favour of the rise.
3. Aid spending?
The government decreased its oath to spend 0.7% of national income on international aid, to 0.5%, due to major government spending during the pandemic. No. 10 has not confirmed whether the original oath will be reinstated, though Mr Sunak has indicated that he would like to see it return.
4. Defence spending
No. 10 has not confirmed that it is going to increase spending on defence to 3% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product0 by 2030. The chancellor of exchequer, Jeremy Hunt has hinted that this pledge may not be fulfilled, saying that every single department would need to find efficiencies, including the ministry of defence.
5. Will tax be reduced?
Mr Sunak said he didn’t want to reduce taxes until inflation decreased, saying tax cuts risked fuel prices increasing even more. He said he would decrease income tax by 1% by April 2024 and decrease it by a further 3% by the end of the next Parliament.
6. Housebuilding rules
Mr Sunak has confirmed that he will be using a “brownfield-first” approach to housebuilding – i.e. building on land that was already used previously, rather than building on “green belts”, which are places between towns and countryside.
Rishi Sunak’s new policies
1. Rishi Sunak promises to fight inflation and other same time not get the taxes down or cut taxes.
2. He will review all 2400 European Union laws before Brexit in his first 100 days as the UK PM. He wants to keep Brexit safe.
3. Liz Truss was in the favour of increasing defence expenditure at 3% of GDP while Rishi Sunak is against this target.
4. He supports Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war.
5. His target is to make the UK 100% energy independent (making one’s energy, not buying it from somewhere or someone, for instance – solar energy, wind energy, nuclear energy) by 2045.
6. He has put forward a scheme to send asylum-seekers coming from Rwanda, by boat, back to their own country.
7. During summers, Sunak made a plan to charge 10 pounds from people who have missed their General Practitioner (GP) appointment. This plan was criticized by the Royal College of GPs, but Sunak is in favour of it.