Rishi Sunak says nations are “queuing up” to work with the UK and rejected claims Britain has lost its status in the world.
The Prime Minister was speaking ahead of Thursday’s general election, which polls show his ruling Conservative party will lose heavily.
Interviewed on the BBC, it was put to Mr Sunak that there was a view, including from the independent Climate Change Committee, that his change of course on net zero carbon emissions had resulted in the UK having lost it status on the issue.
He hit back and broadened his answer to mount a defence of the UK’s standing in the world and criticised what he claimed was a "declinist narrative".
"You said we've lost our standing in the world. That's completely and utterly wrong," he said.
Mr Sunak cited Britain building nuclear submarines with Australia and the United States, and the negotiation of the Windsor Framework with the EU and support for Ukraine.
He claimed that "people are queuing up to work with us because they respect what we do".
"So I just completely reject that, it's entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the UK I wholeheartedly reject."
Mr Sunak also said the slur used about him by a canvasser for the right-wing Reform UK party was "deeply inappropriate and racist".
An undercover Channel 4 reporter filmed one campaigner saying illegal migrants should be used as "target practice" in a conversation with a voter.
The canvasser, Andrew Parker, was also caught joking about closing mosques and using a racial slur against Mr Sunak.
The Prime Minister admitted he expects a degree of criticism because it "comes with the territory".
"But in this instance, you know, what was said was deeply inappropriate and racist," he said.
Mr Sunak said he hated having to repeat the phrase used about him but thought it was important to call it out.
He said that Britain is "the most successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy anywhere in the world", adding: "That's why views like this are so damaging and so wrong.
"They belong to a minority of people and they deserve to be called out for what they are, and that's what I did."
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
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The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
