London: Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Tuesday wished new Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak 'every success' as she exits power. The outgoing PM Liz Truss in a statement outside 10 Downing Street said that she wishes "every success" to Rishi Sunak, adding she looks forward to spending more time in her constituency and serving the country from the back benches.
She also reiterated UK's support for Ukraine and said, "We must support Ukraine in its brave fight against Putin's aggression. Ukraine must prevail and we must continue to strengthen our nation's defences. That's what I have been striving to achieve and I wish Rishi Sunak every success for good of our country."
She also called for lowering taxes and delivering growth, Truss said, "We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens and restoring power for our democratic institutions." "It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money they earn. And it means delivering growth that will lead to more job security, higher wages and more opportunities for our children and grandchildren," she added.
Truss said that her government had acted "urgently and decisively" to help hard-working families. She said she had helped thousands of businesses to avoid bankruptcy, and taken back energy independence so we're "no longer reliant on malign foreign powers." Truss started her farewell speech by saying it has been "a huge honour" to be Prime Minister and to lead the nation in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II and welcoming the accession of King Charles.
Truss also quoted Roman philosopher Seneca, "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult," while reiterating that UK is "more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face". Ending her speech, Truss said "We continue to battle through a storm but I believe in Britain, I believe in the British people and I know that brighter days lie ahead."
On Monday, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak became the Conservative Party leader less than two months after he lost to Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. Sunak's change in fate was triggered by the resignation of Truss after her high-profile sacking and resignation in her cabinet, following a heavily criticised mini-budget that left the UK pound tumbling.
After she was forced to step down just 45 days into office, Truss became the shortest-serving British PM. Standing before 10 Downing Street, Truss said that she recognizes she "cannot deliver the mandate" on which she was elected. Truss' ascent to power was paved by the Tory leadership crisis following Boris Johnson's resignation in July, after a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership.
New UK Prime Minister-designate Sunak vowed to work daily to deliver for the British people. "I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility and I will work day in and day out to deliver for the British people," Sunak said at Conservative HQ in London. He also paid tribute to former UK PM Liz Truss for her "dignified" leadership "under difficult circumstances abroad and at home".
Sunak said that he is "humbled and honoured" to have the support of his fellow MPs and be elected leader. Sunak's change in fate was triggered by the resignation of Truss after her high-profile sacking and resignation in her cabinet, following a heavily criticised mini-budget that left the UK pound tumbling.
Following Truss's short stint as British prime minister, Rishi Sunak and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson were seen as frontrunners for the UK PM bid. But Boris Johnson ruled himself out of the Conservative party leadership race despite claiming he had the required support. The former UK PM said he had come to the conclusion "this would simply not be the right thing to do" as "you can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament."
Sunak is born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who migrated to Britain from East Africa. Earlier in April, reports of Akshata's non-domicile status and alleged tax evasion had created a controversy. Sunak had said his wife has been paying all taxes. Her spokesperson had earlier said that Akshata Murthy "has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income". (ANI)
