Rishi Sunak prepares for PMQs amid rumours of Halloween economic plan delay

Published

3 years ago

October 26, 2022

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Rishi Sunak will make his debut at Prime Minister’s Questions at lunchtime, in what is shaping up to be the first big test of his leadership.

The new PM will face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons – a day after culling almost a dozen Conservative ministers from the cabinet.

Jacob Rees-Mogg has returned to the backbenches after a brief stint as business secretary, alongside others who were loyal to Liz Truss.

Mr Sunak will hold his first cabinet meeting at 9.30am amid a backlash over his re-appointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

Sunak’s first full day in the top job – live updates

Questions also remain over whether Mr Sunak will go ahead with the economic statement due to be delivered by Jeremy Hunt on 31 October amid the market turmoil caused by Ms Truss’s tax-slashing mini-budget.

One Treasury source told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby it was “very possible” it will be delayed.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News this morning he had not had “specific confirmation of dates”, but added: “We know it needs to come soon.”

Mr Sunak has held calls with several world leaders after being appointed PM yesterday, including US President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The White House said Mr Biden – who had mispronounced Mr Sunak’s name during a Diwali celebration on Monday – congratulated him on his appointment.

Both leaders “reaffirmed the special relationship” between the UK and US – and “agreed on the importance of working together to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its aggression”.

And during a conversation with Mr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president was assured that British support for the wartorn country would be “as strong as ever” under his premiership.

In a stark contrast with his predecessor, Mr Sunak also made time to speak with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford.

A new-look cabinet

The new PM – the third this year – will hold a meeting of his new-look cabinet this morning after a raft of senior appointments yesterday afternoon.

Mr Sunak’s top team of ministers consists of allies, former Truss backers and a number of figures from the right wing of the Conservative Party.

There’s been an element of continuity with the previous administration, with Mr Cleverly kept on as foreign secretary and Ben Wallace as defence secretary.

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The PM has also revived the careers of experienced frontbenchers including Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, who were sacked by Boris Johnson in the dying days of his government.

But it is Mr Sunak’s decision to reappoint Ms Braverman as home secretary – days after she dramatically quit the government for breaching the ministerial code – that has been the most controversial.

Labour have accused Mr Sunak of “putting party before country” – with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warning: “Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos.”

Rishi Sunak’s in-tray

Over the coming days, Mr Sunak will begin the gruelling task of uniting the Conservatives and attempting to restore the UK’s economic credibility.

The pound hit a six-week high on Tuesday in a sign that the markets approve of the country’s new leader.

Jeremy Hunt, who is staying on as chancellor after being parachuted into the role by Ms Truss following the mini-budget, is currently due to give a fiscal statement on 31 October.

But according to The Times, Mr Sunak – himself a former chancellor – is considering postponing this statement so he has more time to “get under the bonnet” of the Treasury’s plans.

Mr Cleverly could not confirm a date when interviewed on Sky News, but said: “We know it needs to come soon. We know people want certainty.

“We know people want a clear idea of the government’s plans [but] whether it happens exactly on that day, I’m not able to confirm.”

The government is currently grappling with how best to plug a £40bn black hole in the country’s finances, amid reports both men will discuss proposals to increase taxes while squeezing public spending.

A Number 10 source has told Sky News that no decisions have been taken when it comes to pushing back the fiscal statement.

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

8 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

16 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

20 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.