The leadership campaign for the UK Conservative Party, which will determine the next Prime Minister on September 5, has become more complex with new developments regarding the near-term economic and livelihood outlook in the country. The two candidates are divided over tax and budget policies to control inflation and address the potential for an economic recession. Rishi Sunak supports maintaining and even increasing certain taxes to combat inflation, which is naturally not a conservative policy, and he references this idea to Margaret Thatcher’s policy in the early 1980s, having served as the former Chancellor of the Exchequer in Boris Johnson’s government. His opponent, Liz Truss, the current right-wing Foreign Secretary, insists on right-wing anti-tax policies and advocates for tax cuts.
Economic Time Bomb
All these interactions and confrontations were challenged by the release of an important report over the weekend in the UK. The research report, supported by former Prime Minister and Chancellor Gordon Brown, predicted dreadful livelihood crises in the coming months. Part of this report, the result of a powerful research team, indicates that a very significant portion of the UK society will be caught in energy poverty following the increase in the minimum energy price in October. Gordon Brown has called on the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the two current candidates for his position to urgently hold emergency meetings to establish definitive and practical policies to combat the impending crisis. He stated that if these three continue with the current situation, the House of Commons should come out of recess and formally force them to hold meetings and set policies. Gordon Brown warned that the time bomb has been set off, and with each passing moment, millions of Britons are getting closer to being caught in poverty.
Summer Drought Before Winter Crisis
But this is not the whole story of the current crises in the UK. Apart from the livelihood crisis and the potential for 13% inflation, the country is now also facing the possibility of drought and water shortages. Climate change has shown its effects, and the decrease in rainfall this year has sounded the alarm for water shortages. New laws banning the use of tap water for public uses such as washing cars and filling pools have been imposed with an intensity that is rare in the world. Citizens are even encouraged to watch their neighbors, warn those who waste water, and report violations. It has been a strange year for the British.
