London: Asserting that only his Conservative party can give a tough fight to the Opposition Labour, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed opinion polls that Tories were headed for defeat in the July 4 general election.
Sunak told the BBC that he believed he’d still be in power by the end of the week, saying: “I’m fighting very hard... And I think people are waking up to the real danger of what a Labour government means".
After 14 long years, marked by Britain's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 and the cost of living crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Conservatives are likely to be kicked out of office.
While Sunak acknowledged that the last few years “had been difficult for everyone,’’ the Indian-origin leader declared it was “completely and utterly wrong” to suggest that Britain's place in the world has diminished since Brexit. “It’s entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the UK I wholeheartedly reject,” he said. “It (the UK) is a better place to live than it was in 2010.’’
Opinion polls have been giving center-left Labour party, led by Keir Starmer, an around 20-point lead, with support for Reform potentially splitting the center-right vote and the centrist Liberal Democrats further draining Conservative support.
According to AP news agency, Sunak, after coming to power in October 2022, has tried to silence his critics by arguing that his policies have begun to solve Britain's problems. He has even warned that Starmer would raise taxes if his party wins the election.
| A free trade agreement (FTA) with India is seen as high on the agenda of the incumbent Tories and the Opposition Labour. Both sides have been working towards clinching a pact to enhance the GBP 38.1 billion bilateral trading partnership but with India’s phased general election followed by Britain’s, the negotiations remain stalled in the fourteenth round of negotiations. |
