Rishi Sunak holds his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. Photo: Downing Street
Rishi Sunak holds his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. Photo: Downing Street
Rishi Sunak holds his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. Photo: Downing Street
Rishi Sunak holds his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. Photo: Downing Street

UK budget statement delayed as Rishi Sunak pores over economic plans


Laura O'Callaghan
  • English
  • Arabic

The UK Treasury’s much-anticipated budget will be delayed beyond the October 31 deadline to ensure it “matches the new prime minister's priorities,” it was announced.

The planned economic statement to set out the next steps amid the cost-of-living crisis will now be delivered on November 17, the Treasury confirmed on Wednesday.

Upon entering 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, the new Conservative leader said the country faced a “profound economic crisis” and there were “difficult decisions to come”.

He immediately set about choosing MPs for his top team to take his agenda forward, and reappointed Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Mr Hunt, who scrapped almost all of Liz Truss’s economic policies, was on Monday said to be working towards the end-of-month date to have the medium-term fiscal package complete.

But earlier on Wednesday, James Cleverly, who was reappointed foreign secretary by Mr Sunak, had suggested the announcement of measures could be pushed back, given the tight time frame between the new prime minister entering office and the October 31 deadline.

“Obviously the date of that fiscal statement was originally set with no expectation of a change of prime minister,” he told BBC Breakfast. “We’ve now had a change of prime minister.

“Thankfully that’s happened very quickly, because nobody wants uncertainty.

“But the prime minister was appointed less than 24 hours ago. He is in the process of forming a government. He will want some time with his chancellor to make sure that the fiscal statement matches his priorities.”

He said while Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt “know they need to work quickly on this,” they also “want to get it right”.

When challenged over the uncertainty a delay would bring to British households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Cleverly said “a short delay, in order to make sure that we get this right, I think that is not necessarily a bad thing at all”.

The chancellor remained tight-lipped as he headed to a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, walking past reporters and photographers outside 10 Downing Street.

Mr Sunak’s entry into Britain’s highest office has given some stability to markets after weeks of upheaval caused by his predecessor’s debt-fuelled tax-slashing mini-budget unveiled on September 23.

The pound reacted calmly to Monday’s announcement that Mr Sunak had won the Tory leadership race and was set to become Britain’s third prime minister in two months.

Sterling rose again in early trading on Wednesday to reach $1.1512, the highest rate recorded since September 15 — before Ms Truss’s disastrous mini-budget.

Britain’s 10-year gilt yield declined four basis points to 3.60 per cent. The 10-year yield was at roughly 3.5 per cent before the mini-budget last month.

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

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Company name: Farmin

Date started: March 2019

Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi 

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: AgriTech

Initial investment: None to date

Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs 

Jumanji: The Next Level

Director: Jake Kasdan

Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas 

Two out of five stars 

Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances

All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.

Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.

Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.

Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.

Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.

Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.

AWARDS
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How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

The Greatest Royal Rumble card

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
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Updated: October 26, 2022, 10:48 AM