Liz Truss has been confirmed as Britain’s next prime minister. A beaming Liz Truss has taken the stage after her victory to a huge standing ovation, saying it’s an honour to be elected as the leader.
The foreign secretary saw off a Tory leadership challenge from former chancellor Rishi Sunak to win the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and the UK’s next PM. She thanked the party for “organising one of the longest job interviews in history”, as well as her supporters.
Liz Truss has pledged to follow through on her promises to voters, saying the Tory party needs to show it can deliver over the next two years. The new prime minister’s manifesto promises on tax, healthcare, climate, Brexit and Ukraine.
She says she has a “bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the UK economy.Ms Truss pledged to cancel out the rise in National Insurance that was announced by Mr Sunak and came into effect in April, in order to put more money in citizens’ pockets.
While she has since been cagey indeed about tackling the cost of living crisis, Ms Truss has promised help with energy bills within a week of taking office and to hold an emergency budget as soon as possible, with the country facing runaway inflation in double-digits and soaring costs while wages stagnate.
Ms Truss also pledged at the outset to scrap Mr Sunak’s planned rise in corporation tax, due to increase from 19 per cent to 23 per cent in 2023 and promised £30bn worth of tax cuts, which she insisted was the only way to revive the ailing British economy.
About 57% of valid votes cast were for Liz Truss. Turnout was pretty high too, with 82.6% of members casting a vote, with 654 rejected, possibly spoiled or filled out incorrectly.
Healthcare:
On the NHS – once more on its knees with autumn flu season approaching and a fresh wave of Covid far from unlikely – Ms Truss has backed shifting a greater proportion of healthcare spending towards social care and bringing more doctors out of retirement to help out (surely a sticking plaster if ever there was one).
She has also said that making GP’s surgeries more accessible is key to relieving some of the strain on the UK’s hospitals, which are currently battling dangerously long waiting times and treatment backlogs while starved of resources.
Brexit:
Despite having supported Remain and spoken out at the time about the importance of ready access to Europe, Ms Truss now casts herself not just as the reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher but also as the Brexiteer’s Brexiteer, even more so than Mr Sunak, who actually voted to leave the bloc.
Like Mr Johnson, she has threatened to risk the fragile peace at home by tampering with the Northern Ireland Protocol, insisting that trade between Great Britain and the region must be “free-flowing” and left up to UK courts to legislate, while also pledging to scrap or replace any EU regulations that she views as holding back Britain’s economic recovery.
Climate:
Apparently still not a matter of much concern to many Tories despite a summer of record temperatures, drought and associated transport chaos, Ms Truss, also a former environment secretary, has at least said she intends to honour the UK’s pledge to hit net zero by 2050 and promised protections for wildlife and biodiversity.
That said, she has also called for a review into the ban on harmful fracking in pursuit of shale gas, encouraged more nuclear power stations and labelled solar farms “a blight on the landscape”.
Housing:
Potentially placing the new PM in further conflict with the environment is her pledge to see 300,000 new homes built in the UK every year.
Elsewhere, she has also said she hopes to help first-time buyers by incorporating rental payments into mortgage assessments.
Education:
Ms Truss has said every pupil must be entitled to “the best opportunity to succeed” regardless of their background, an aspiration drawing on her own supposedly gritty origins at a Leeds comprehensive.
Ms Truss has otherwise said she would like to expand academically-successful academies, introduce more free schools and reform university admission procedures so that places in higher education are offered only based on actual, not predicted, grades while making Oxbridge places available automatically to anyone with the right results.
Ukraine:
Ms Truss has moved to reassure Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that Britain’s support for his country in the face of Russian aggression will be unwavering, six months into an increasingly brutal and costly war that Mr Johnson did much to involve himself with, securing the admiration of Mr Zelensky and his people in the process.
Energy crisis:
On the prevailing issue of rising energy bills, she says she will “deliver” when it comes to crisis by not only dealing with bills but also the long term supply issues.
“We will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver,” concludes Truss, focusing on a theme that she returned to constantly during the leadership contest.
The new Tory leader adds that the party will defeat Labour at the 2024 general election.
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Euro 2022 top goal scorer Beth Mead is not included in England Women’s World Cup squad.
The 27-year-old Arsenal forward has not played since November having been a major doubt for the competition.
This comes after an anterior cruciate ligament injury which she still has not fully recovered from.
England head coach Sarina Wiegman has named the 23-player squad for this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Tottenham striker Beth England, who has not been involved since last summer’s Euro competition is included.
Chelsea centre-back Millie Bright, who has been out with a knee injury since March, has made the 23-player squad.
Sarina Wiegman confirmed Bright would captain the team in the absence of injured defender Leah Williamson.
Wiegman went on to say she never thought Beth Mead would be fit in time for the tournament, saying: “She’s so positive and going well, but the timescale she had we would have taken so many risks to get to the World Cup
“I’m not willing to take that risk to push her too much and she gets injured again. We need to take care of players.”
England play Haiti in their opening match on 22nd July in Australia where they look to build on their success following Euro 2022.
A landmark Tyneside venue is set for a new lease of life as a STACK drinking and dining destination if new planning proposals are given the green light.
Newcastle leisure company Danieli Group has submitted plans to create a new STACK development in the former Empress Ballroom in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, which was originally part of the town’s Spanish City. If successful, the business hopes to return the 113-year-old building to its former position at the forefront of the seaside town’s entertainment scene.
Built in 1910, the Empress Ballroom regularly hosted more than 750 dancers before going on to become the Carlton Club bingo hall. It has lain empty for some time and fallen into disrepair – yet the Stack submission would deliver a new future for the building while also injecting a boost to the local economy.
Plans by current owner Mark Holmes to transform it into a leisure and community venue were delayed by Covid and now, although planning permission for a leisure venue is in place, Danieli Group has applied for a variation of the plans to create Stack Whitley Bay. The plans, to be submitted this week, include the creation of an external roof terrace together with the premises licence application. If successful the hope is to continue along the same route as other successful STACK sites, with the inclusion of a stage for live entertainment and space for street food and drink outlets.
Neill Winch, CEO of the Danieli Group, believes STACK would be a great addition to the town. He said: “Not only will it bring a new dimension to the existing leisure offering but, subject to planning and licensing, it will bring an underutilised building – and much-loved heritage asset – back into use. We are delighted to hopefully be able to continue to build STACK’s strong presence in the North East with this new and exciting venture.”
Owner Mark Holmes added: “When we bought the Empress Ballroom, we had a vision for the magnificent venue, it’s really a hidden treasure in the Spanish City. Our plans were good, but now Neill Winch and STACK have turbo charged these plans and I am convinced they will deliver the quality venue that will benefit Whitley Bay, residents, and the whole community.”
If the application is successful, Whitley Bay will become the latest in a fast-growing portfolio of STACKS being created in the North East and beyond. A year after the closure of its original STACK Newcastle on the site of the former Odeon Cinema, Seaburn in Sunderland continues to go from strength to strength, while developments in Durham, Middlesbrough, Bishop Auckland, Carlisle and a new site in Newcastle city centre are also being created.
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Eamonn Holmes claims there was a ‘total cover-up’ on ITV’s This Morning show over Phillip Schofield’s affair with a younger male colleague.
The 63-year-old presenter has accused Schofield of ‘toxicity’ amid the furore over the culture of the programme.
Holmes spoke about Schofield’s affair on GB News and alleged that “those in authority” had to have known what was going on. He said: “It’s a total cover-up. Those in authority had to know what was going on and they thought they could dodge a bullet with this.
“Which they do, and they do constantly, because with Schofield talking about those who speak about against him, namely me, Amanda Holden, and you (Dan Wooton), you’ll be included in the toxicity that goes on. Dr Ranj, of course, as well. And you simply sit there and think ‘No mate, you’ve had it all your way for too long’.”
Phillip Schofield, 61, resigned from ITV on Friday (26th May) and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an “unwise, but not illegal” affair.
Following this revelation, some former This Morning employees have spoken out in criticism of the culture of the broadcaster.
Dr Ranj Singh who was the resident doctor on the show for some time slammed the show’s “toxic” culture, saying he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” two years ago whilst working there and says he felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing.
In an Instagram post, Schofield hit back at the critics saying that there was “no toxicity” on This Morning, adding: “I hope you have noticed that it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.”
Referring to Schofield’s comments in an interview with Dan Wooton on GB News on Monday (29th May), Holmes accused Schofield of “toxicity”. He said: “I think that Phillip is absolutely right about the toxicity. But my friend, the toxicity is not with me, Dan Wooton, or anyone else, the toxicity is with you”.
He said that Schofield “created an atmosphere” on This Morning “where people hated him”, adding: “This nonsense that he wrote today about toxicity, about how (This Morning) is a happy place or whatever, holy god, what planet does this man live on?”
“He created an atmosphere where people hated him. People would avoid him in the corridor. He didn’t look at anybody, didn’t know anybody’s name. Holly doesn’t know people’s names either. This is legendary within the production team, how distant they are, and how they just don’t care.”
Asked after a trailer for Holmes’ GB News interview had aired but before it had been played in full at around 10:30pm, a spokesperson for Schofield said: “Phillip has no comment”.
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