Rishi ‘Richy’ Sunak

Response to Rishi Sunak abandoning climate crisis policies

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One of the many occasions UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.
One of the many occasions UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.

This post should be regarded as a draft subject to change or elaboration. dizzy deep

Politicians given a climate brief often come to appreciate and understand how desperate and important the current climate situation is. I have reached the same conclusion from my experience of addressing the climate. By contrast people who attack activists and protesters are totally ignorant and have no idea.

Zac Goldsmith resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government on 30th June 2023 claiming that Prime Minister Sunak was “simply uninterested” in the environment.

Zac Goldsmith resigns accusing Sunak of being ‘uninterested’ in environment

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In his letter stepping down from the Foreign Office, where his portfolio was overseas territories, Commonwealth, environment, energy and climate, Goldsmith said it had been a privilege to work as an environment minister, particularly under Johnson.

He said he had been horrified by the Sunak government’s “abandonment” of policies around animal welfare, and that its efforts on environmental issues at home had “simply ground to a standstill”.

Addressing Sunak directly, the Tory peer said: “Prime minister, having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months. The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our prime minister, are simply uninterested. That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis.”

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Sunak’s disinterest should not come as any surprise: Sunak became UK Prime Minister on 25 October 2022; during his first week in office he announced that he intended to not attend the COP27 climate conference at Sharm-el-Sheik. That decision was reversed and he did attend, partly to avoid getting embarrassed by previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s intended attendance. Sunak routinely uses private jets and helicopters to travel regardless of the damage he causes to the climate.

I consider that Sunak’s disregard for the climate is due to his privileged situation: being excessively wealthy he is part of the problem of excessively wealthy individuals disproportionately damaging the climate. His lifestyle is that of a climate destroyer. He has a holiday home in Santa Monica, California, he routinely travels by private jet, he had to have the electricity grid to his home upgraded at his own expense to heat his private swimming pool FFS. He’s not able to address the issues of the climate debate because to do so would require he recognise and address his own destructive actions instead of ignorantly carrying on.

This post should be regarded as a draft subject to change or elaboration. I will also be increasing my attention to Sunak and the Conservatives. dizzy deep

Continue ReadingResponse to Rishi Sunak abandoning climate crisis policies

Zahawi’s tax evasions point to a more fundamental problem for the Tories

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/zahawis-tax-evasions-point-more-fundamental-problem-tories

TORY chairman Nadhim Zahawi’s tax problems are a bigger headache for the Prime Minister than he has yet acknowledged.

Zahawi pleads that it was mere carelessness that saw him forced to pay HMRC nearly £5 million in unpaid tax (inclusive of a penalty) while he was, er, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Financial sloppiness isn’t a great look for a chancellor, but in Zahawi’s defence he’s admitted to it before. It was after all a “genuine mistake” that saw him claim thousands in expenses to heat the stables for a horse-riding school on his Warwickshire estate.

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Labour rails at Conservative “corruption and cronyism,” but the fundamental issue is more basic still. This is a government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich and it is making us poorer.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/zahawis-tax-evasions-point-more-fundamental-problem-tories

Continue ReadingZahawi’s tax evasions point to a more fundamental problem for the Tories

Congratulations to Rishi Sunak

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Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on becoming UK's prime minister today. 

His short-lived predecessor Liz Truss was not only in denial of the climate crisis but was actually actively hostile to renewable energy. Even though she only served 45 days, she imposed a windfall tax on renewables and nuclear energy only and promoted exploitation of oil and gas in the North Sea by issuing new exploration licences. [I am not supportive of nuclear energy.] 

The climate is in crisis. It's deteriorating and we're regularly breaking temperature records in UK despite so-far having it very easy compared to the rest of the World. It can't be simply denied as the Tories have been doing.  Denial of the climate crisis is insane. It's going to get worse and extreme protests like closing the M25 are going to increase, the idea being that the protestors are stopping normal conduct of life that is killing the planet. 

Hopefully Rishi will tax the rich to pay for public services. He should know - through being filthy rich - that they're not even going to notice it.
Continue ReadingCongratulations to Rishi Sunak

Meet the real Richy Sunak

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OpenDemocracy has dirt on the longtime Boris Johnson facilitator and collaborator

Rishi Sunak could become PM. Here’s what he doesn’t want you to know

Rich as fekk, privately educated at ridiculously expensive public schools, owns many properties worldwide, cut benefits, helped cause the 2008 financial crisis, has a hedge-fund company called Theleme ! registered in the Caymen Islands, unknown business dealings, his missus Murty is richer than the Queen, has strong links to right-wing think-tanks, employs slick PR.

By bailing out vulture capitalists, Rishi Sunak has revealed his true priorities

Last week, in a largely unreported decision, Rishi Sunak quietly announced that private equity owned companies would now be eligible for government bailout loans.

This means that fabulously rich private investors like Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, Apax Partners, Permira Adviors, and Bridgepoint will have access to government business support schemes such as the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS).

In many ways, this aligns with the government’s broader strategy towards COVID support schemes: they are primarily designed to support ‘business’. And this means that although some jobs may or may not be saved, this is incidental. The main aim is to preserve the corporate economy.

Rishi Sunak said he’d protect the vulnerable. So why is he making them pay?

Overall the Budget seems designed to fuel a two-tier recovery, where the winners from the pandemic prosper at the expense of everyone else. Ultimately, the effect is to shift the cost of the pandemic onto those who can afford it least. In practice this is disproportionately the young, women and ethnic minorities.

Continue ReadingMeet the real Richy Sunak