LONDON
\nBritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will gather his newly appointed cabinet for the first time on Wednesday, a day after taking power with a promise to fix the mistakes of his predecessor and stabilise the economy.
\nAt the top of Sunak\u2019s agenda will be preparation for a fiscal statement, keenly anticipated by financial markets, which is scheduled for Oct. 31 but which the Times newspaper reported could be pushed back by a few days.
\nAsked about the timing of the statement, expected to set out how the government will plug a budget shortfall of as much as 40 billion pounds ($45.88 billion), foreign minister James Cleverly told Sky News he did not have a \u201cspecific confirmation\u201d of the date.
\n\u201c(Sunak), of course, will want to take some time to work on the detail on that,\u201d Cleverly said. \u201cWe know it needs to come soon. We know people want certainty. We know people want a clearer idea of the government\u2019s plans.\u201d
\nSunak, who replaced Liz Truss as leader after her brief stint as prime minister was engulfed in chaos, on Tuesday chose to not bring in a new finance minister but did appoint a cabinet with a mix of views from across the Conservative Party\u2019s political factions.
\nHis decision-making immediately came in for criticism from the opposition Labour Party, which focused on the reinstating of lawmaker Suella Braverman as interior minister less than a week after she was sacked by Truss for a security breach.
\nAs Britain\u2019s third prime minister this year, Sunak faces a daunting list of problems beyond the economic crisis, including how to unite and rebuild a fractured party whose reputation has been shredded by months of scandals and rows.
\n\u201cThe hard work begins now and together, the prime minister\u2019s new cabinet will deliver for the British people,\u201d a source in his Number 10 Downing Street office said in a statement.
\nLater in the day, Sunak will for the first time face the opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer for Prime Minister\u2019s Questions – the weekly showpiece political debate in parliament at 12 noon (1100 GMT).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will gather his newly appointed cabinet for the first time on Wednesday, a day after taking power with a promise to fix the mistakes of his predecessor and stabilise the economy. At the top of Sunak\u2019s agenda will be preparation for a fiscal statement, keenly anticipated by financial markets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-291832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n