L'ancien premier ministre britannique Rishi Sunak recruté par Microsoft et la startup Anthropic

LE FIGARO : Plus jeune premier ministre britannique depuis 200 ans, le premier chef de gouvernement britannique d’origine indienne avait quitté la tête du parti conservateur l’an passé après le revers de sa formation aux législatives.

L'ex-premier ministre conservateur britannique Rishi Sunak, qui a quitté le pouvoir en juillet 2024, va conseiller le géant de la tech Microsoft et la start-up d'intelligence artificielle (IA) Anthropic, selon un document publié par l'instance chargée de contrôler les risques de conflits d'intérêts des élus. Sa mission auprès de Microsoft va consister à «fournir des perspectives stratégiques de haut niveau sur les tendances macroéconomiques et géopolitiques et leurs interactions avec les technologies et la société», indique l'Acoba (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments), dans son avis publié jeudi. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | jeudi 9 octobre 2025

The Guardian View on the UK Recession: No Growth and No Ideas Either

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The Conservatives have presided over a shrunken British economy, and Rishi Sunak does not have a clue how to make it grow again

“We’re on the up!” claimed the Daily Express about the British economy on Thursday . Sorry, loyal Conservative cheerleaders, but exactly the reverse is true. Instead of being on the up, we’re on the slide. On Thursday, the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK is in fact in recession, with a 0.3% drop in gross domestic product for the last quarter of 2023 to follow a 0.1% drop in the third quarter. The economy is therefore getting smaller. This is a recession. It is a huge national blow, both economically and politically.

It is true that the slide into recession has been a gentle one. Few economists believe that the announcement portends a downward lurch to compare with the recession of 1980 or the one after the financial crisis in 2009, when GDP fell by more than 4%. Do not, though, be misled by talk of a “technical” recession. An economy is either growing or it is not. Ours is not growing. It is shrinking. » | Editorial | Thursday, February 15, 2024

Sunak's Green U-Turn: Bloomberg UK Show

Sep 21, 2023 | UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a backlash among some Conservative MPs after rolling back parts of his government's green agenda, including delaying a ban on new petrol and diesel cars by five years to 2035. We speak to partner at Passion Capital and former special envoy for fintech for the UK Treasury, Eileen Burbidge, about the opportunities it presents for tech investment. "Bloomberg UK" focuses on the biggest economic, financial and political issues facing Britain. The program goes beyond the market moves with expert analysis and top interviews from the heart of London.

Die britische Regierung verwässert ihre Klimaziele: Im Herbst vor dem nächsten Wahljahr hat der britische Premierminister Sunak die Klimapolitik als Wahlkampfthema entdeckt. Unter anderem will er das Verbrennerverbot verschieben. »

Truss Poised to Plunge UK Economy into ‘Inflation Spiral’, Says Sunak

THE GUARDIAN: Truss cannot deliver £50bn tax cuts and support packages without pushing public debt to dangerous levels, says Tory leader contender

Liz Truss will plunge the economy into an “inflation spiral” if she does not choose between her unfunded £50bn tax cuts and providing cost of living support, her Conservative party leadership opponent, Rishi Sunak, has claimed.

Sunak’s leadership campaign said Truss would increase borrowing to “historic and dangerous levels” and place public finances into “serious jeopardy” if she attempted to do both.

The comments came after Truss, the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, signalled another U-turn with direct support for companies and households with soaring energy bills this winter.

In a statement, Sunak’s campaign said: “Following weeks of rejecting direct support payments as ‘handouts’, Truss supporters have slowly woken up to the reality of what winter brings. They now say that they will provide people with help – but what help, for who, when and how it will be paid for remains a mystery. » | Tobi Thomas | Monday, August 22, 2022

Spring Statement: Sunak Warns Economy Could Get ‘Significantly’ Worse

Mar 23, 2022 • Chancellor Rishi Sunak was keen to present his Spring statement as a series of tax cuts. But official figures forecast the biggest fall in living standards for 66 years.

Budget 2021: IFS Predicts ‘Real Pain’ for Low-income Households

THE GUARDIAN: Thinktank’s verdict on Rishi Sunak’s budget says tax rises and inflation will mean falling living standards for many

Rishi Sunak in Bury, the day after delivering the budget. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images
Rishi Sunak’s decision to raise taxes on workers amid high levels of inflation will squeeze living standards next year, causing “real pain” for low-income households, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.

Issuing its verdict after the chancellor’s budget on Wednesday, the UK’s leading tax and spending thinktank said a middle earner was likely to be worse off next year as high rates of inflation and tax rises negate weak growth in wages.

It said that while Sunak was promising a new age of optimism, voters might not get much feelgood factor after the chancellor announced £40bn of tax increases this year – the largest increase since 1993.

Paul Johnson, the director of the IFS, said the outlook for living standards jarred with the chancellor’s upbeat tone. “Over the next several years a combination of tax increases and high inflation will mean very slow growth in living standards,” he said. » | Richard Partington, Economics correspondent | Thursday, October 29, 2021

The Furlough Scheme Should Never Have Been Allowed to Fund Million-pound Bonuses

THE GUARDIAN: JD Sports has handed its chief £6m. It’s clear the Treasury did not attach enough strings to its business life-support scheme

It is windfall time for those lucky few who sit in the shade of the magic money tree. Take Peter Cowgill, for example, executive chairman of JD Sports. He has been paid almost £6m in bonuses since February last year. What makes this huge amount even more shocking is that his company has received more than £100m in government support since the start of the pandemic.

Unlike Primark, which has committed to paying back £121m received under the furlough scheme and business rates relief, and the big UK supermarkets, which will pay back about £1.8bn in business rates, JD Sports has not yet decided whether it will return any furlough scheme money to the government. It wants to wait and see until Covid restrictions are fully lifted.

Let’s not forget that the massive public subsidies to Britain’s businesses were drawn up in the spring of last year, when many businesses faced existential crises and did not know if they would survive the pandemic. As it turned out, though, some of them thrived as our spending habits changed. And JD Sports was one of the winners. Its profits are set to rise by at least 70% to an estimated £550m this year. » | Stefan Stern | Friday, July 2, 2021