The head of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, withdrew her candidacy for the election of prime minister, so her rival Rishi Sunak automatically becomes the new head of the Conservative Party and, accordingly, the prime minister of Great Britain, the leadership of the British Conservative Party reported on Monday.
“Rishi Sunak has been chosen as the new leader of the Conservative Party,” said Sir Graham Brady, head of the House of Commons “1922 committee” that was in charge of the process of choosing a new leader.
Mordaunt, for her part, tweeted that she had withdrawn her candidacy for the prime ministerial election and said that thus “we have chosen our new prime minister”, noting that she fully supports Sunak.
Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton to a doctor and pharmacist on May 12, 1980. He graduated from the University of Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics, and later received an MBA from Stanford University. There, the politician met his future wife Akshata Murthy, the daughter of the co-founder of the Indian multinational IT company Infosys, billionaire Narayana Murthy. Sunak managed to work in one of the largest investment banks in the world Goldman Sachs Group and hedge fund The Children’s Investment Fund Management.
In 2015, Sunak won the parliamentary elections in the Richmond constituency in West Yorkshire. He first entered the government under Theresa May in 2018, receiving the position of Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Sunak voted three times for May’s EU Brexit deal, but it was rejected in 2019, largely leading to her resignation and the rise to power of Boris Johnson.
After May’s resignation, Sunak supported Johnson as the candidate for leader of the Conservative Party. Johnson came to power in 2019 and appointed Sunak to the post of deputy head of the Treasury, but already in 2020 he went on a promotion and headed the Treasury, replacing Sajid Javid in this post.
On July 5, 2022, Sunak became the second minister after Javid to resign in connection with the Johnson scandals. Three days later, Sunak announced his candidacy for the post of the new leader of the Tories and, accordingly, the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The former head of the Ministry of Finance gained the majority of votes in all rounds of the election of the head of the Conservative Party, but in the final round he lost to former Foreign Minister Liz Truss. Truss took office as prime minister, but was able to hold it for only 45 days, after which she was forced to resign.
On Friday, the UK announced its decision to expand sanctions against Russia in the field of IT technologies, audit services, and engineering.
The government’s message notes that, in particular, in the IT sector, consulting services for the Russian Federation will now be prohibited. It is also prohibited “to provide legal services for transactions in a number of commercial areas.” Restrictive measures apply to the advertising sector, auditing.
“The UK also bans the export to Russia of approximately 700 items of goods that are important for Russian industry and technology development,” the statement said.
It also notes that the British authorities have decided to summon Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin to the British Foreign Office.
Ukraine and the UK are planning to conclude an agreement on digital trade, which will remove barriers to trade and provide support to Ukrainian businesses, the UK has previously concluded such an agreement only with Singapore, the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Digital Transformation report.
The Ministry of Economy in a press release on Wednesday clarified that the day before, First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov discussed this document – Digital Economy Agreement – with Secretary of State for International Trade of Great Britain Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
“The Digital Economy Agreement is a new type of trade agreement that will open up new opportunities for Ukrainian and British businesses through the use of modern technologies that will reduce bureaucratic procedures and promote the use of electronic payments, digital signatures and electronic contracts,” Svyrydenko said.
According to the release of the Ministry of Economy, the agreements involve the creation of digital infrastructure to level restrictions on cross-border data transfer, the opening of a single window for traders and government agencies, the growth of trade in services, proper protection of personal data and improved access to public resources.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation added that among the main areas of cooperation were financial technologies and payment systems, open digital markets and technical cooperation.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that the agreement on digital trade would supplement the agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the UK, concluded on October 8, 2020.
The UK has decided to introduce a ban on importing Russian coal in August and on importing oil at the end of December, the UK government reported on Thursday.
“This amendment prohibits the import of oil and oil products, coal and coal products and gold as well as the acquisition, supply and delivery, directly or indirectly of these goods,” according to the clarifications published on Thursday.
It also prohibits the provision of technical assistance, financial services and funds and brokering services relating to these goods.
“The prohibition on the import of gold entered into force on 21 July, the prohibition on the import of coal will take effect on 10 August 2022 and the prohibition on the import of oil will take effect on 31 December 2022,” the UK government said.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in April reported that the country would refuse to import Russian coal and oil during 2022, and then gas to the extent possible.
“By the end of 2022, the UK will end all dependency on Russian coal and oil, and end imports of gas as soon as possible thereafter,” the FCDO said.
BAN, IMPORT, RUSSIAN GOLD, UK
The UK authorities are considering the possibility of confiscating frozen Russian assets in the kingdom for transfer to Ukraine, reports The Guardian.
According to the newspaper, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the UK intends to follow the example of Canada and seize the assets of Russians in the United Kingdom in order to transfer them to Ukraine.
“I support this concept. We are following it very closely. Canadians have actually just passed a law that we are working on with the Home Office and the Treasury, but I certainly agree with this idea. We just need to work out all the details of this issue “, – quotes Truss edition.
She noted that the British Parliament “most likely” will need to pass a new law that allows this to happen. However, the minister added, perhaps it will be possible to do without it.
The newspaper notes that the seized funds can be transferred either to private individuals in the form of damages, or to the Ukrainian authorities.
During the UK-Ukrainian infrastructure summit in London, Ukraine and the UK, as well as representatives of UK business, signed a Memorandum on Ukraine’s infrastructure restoration.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said in a report on its website on Saturday that this memorandum provides an opportunity for UK business to fully participate in the restoration of Ukraine’s infrastructure destroyed by Russia.
In partnership with UK business, a working group has been created that will work on the restoration of the critical infrastructure of Kyiv city and the region.
“The Ministry of Infrastructure is already developing a public register of damaged infrastructure and, together with colleagues in the government and international partners, is developing solutions for digital recovery management,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was quoted as saying.
According to him, now about 30% of the infrastructure in Ukraine has been destroyed.
At the same time, in the course of work on the restoration of transport communication, 41 temporary crossings have already been installed, almost 1,000 km of roads have been cleared.
The Ministry of Infrastructure said that the government of the UK, in particular, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, from the start of a full-scale invasion of Russia, provided full support in repelling aggression, restoring destroyed infrastructure and establishing supply chains in the condition of the war.
