— Two Top Downing Street Officials Resign; Northern Irish Executive Under Threat over Brexit
LONDON (MaceNews) – UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced a package of measures to reduce the sting of rising energy bills, marking a rare public appearance while the government struggles to counter allegations that civil servants held multiple parties in the contravention of lockdown rules.
Sunak, one of the most popular members of government, has avoided the cameras during investigations into Downing Street parties, but resurfaced on Thursday to address rising energy prices. His intervention followed a 54% rise in the the household energy price cap to £1,971 per year announced by regulator OfGem earlier, an increase of £693 per family.
Under the government plan, the Treasury will offer a £200 discount on all electricity bills, taking effect in October, when the price cap is likely to rise further. The chancellor also announced a rebate in local authority taxes for roughly 80% of UK households to take effect in April, in conjunction with the looming rise in the energy price cap.
Household energy prices comprise 3.3% of the UK consumer price index basket, and the jump in the price cap will add to inflationary pressures. The consumer price index rose by an annual rate of 5.4% in December, the highest rate since March of 1992 and well above the Bank of England’s 2% target. The Bank expects inflation to peak at 7.25%, one of the reasons behind the 25 basis point rise in Base Rate to 0.5% announced earlier on Thursday.
The announcement comes as pressure intensifies on Boris Johnson, following Monday’s publication of a report into gatherings held at Downing Street and other government offices during periods of lockdown in 2020 and 2021. Civil service investigator Sue Gray detailed a “lack of leadership” at Downing Street in a report released on Monday, but her summary was truncated while police investigations into the gatherings continue.
An already-embattled Johnson faced more criticism after a parliamentary statement on Monday, in which he accused Labour leader Kier Starmer, a former top prosecutor, of failing to prosecute serial sex offender Jimmy Savile, previously a feted television entertainer. Johnson’s allegations were later debunked, but the comments prompted the resignation of key aide Munira Mirza on Thursday.
Jack Doyle, Downing Street director of communications, also stepped down on Thursday, according to the UK media. Doyle told friends that his departure was not linked to the departure of Mirza.
Chancellor Sunak defended the prime minister against the findings of the Sue Gray report, but told reporters that “he wouldn’t have said it,” when asked about Johnson’s comments about Starmer’s handling of the Savile case.
Meanwhile, the government faces brewing trouble across the Irish Sea, as the first minister of Northern Ireland resigned on Thursday over the UK’s Brexit settlement with the European Union. Paul Givan, of the Democratic Unionist Party, stepped down, triggering the resignation of Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, due to power-sharing arrangement underpinning the Northern Irish Assembly. O’Neill represents the increasingly-popular Sinn Fein party, formerly the political arm of the Irish Republican Army.
Givan’s departure follows DUP minister Edwin Poots’ pledge to end customs checks on goods moving from the UK mainland into Northern Ireland, in contravention of the Northern Irish protocol underpinning the UK’s departure from the European Union. As part of the Brexit deal, the UK agreed to keep Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market to avoid the need for a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic to the south. DUP officials have chaffed at the protocol, fearing it diminishes Northern Ireland’s standing within the United Kingdom.
Lower-tier Northern Irish ministers will remain in their post ahead of local elections scheduled for May, but the assembly is unable to pass key budget legislation in the absence of the two top minister. Sinn Fein, which supports the Northern Irish protocol, has called for earlier elections.
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