Black Immigrant Daily News

LONDON (AP) — When Liz Truss was running to lead Britain this summer, an ally predicted her first weeks in office would be turbulent.

But few were prepared for the scale of the sound and fury — least of all Truss herself. In just six weeks, the prime minister’s libertarian economic policies have triggered a financial crisis, emergency central bank intervention, multiple U-turns and the firing of her Treasury chief.

Now Truss faces a mutiny inside the governing Conservative Party that leaves her leadership hanging by a thread.

Conservative lawmaker Robert Halfon fumed on Sunday that the last few weeks had brought “one horror story after another.”

“The government has looked like libertarian jihadists and treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice on which to carry out ultra, ultra free-market experiments,” he told Sky News.

It’s not as if the party wasn’t warned. During the summertime contest to lead the Conservatives, Truss called herself a disruptor who would challenge economic “orthodoxy.” She promised she would cut taxes and slash red tape, and would spur Britain’s sluggish economy to grow.

Her rival, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, argued that immediate tax cuts would be reckless amid the economic shockwaves from the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The 172,000 Conservative Party members — who are largely older and affluent — preferred Truss’ boosterish vision. She won 57% of members’ votes to become leader of the governing party on Sept. 5. The next day, she was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II in one of the monarch’s final acts before her death on Sept. 8.

Truss’ first days in office were overshadowed by a period of national mourning for the queen. Then on Sept. 23, Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng announced the economic plan he and Truss had drawn up. It included 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) in tax cuts — including an income tax reduction for the highest earners — without an accompanying assessment of how the government would pay for them.

Truss was doing what she and allies said she would. Libertarian think-tank chief Mark Littlewood predicted during the summer there would be “fireworks” as the new prime minister pushed for economic reform at “absolutely breakneck speed.”

Still, the scale of the announcement took financial markets, and political experts, by surprise.

“Many of us, wrongly, expected her to pivot after she won the leadership contest in the way many presidents do after winning the primaries,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “But she didn’t do that. She actually meant what she said.”

The pound plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar and the cost of government borrowing soared. The Bank of England was forced to step in to buy government bonds and prevent the financial crisis from spreading to the wider economy. The central bank also warned that interest rates will have to rise even faster than expected to curb inflation that is running at around 10%, leaving millions of homeowners facing big increases in mortgage payments.

Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank, said Truss and Kwarteng made a series of “unforced errors” with their economic package.

“They shouldn’t have made their contempt for economic institutions quite so clear,” she said. “I think they could have listened to advice. And I think one of the things that they got very wrong was

As the negative reaction grew, Truss began to abandon bits of the package in a bid to reassure her party and the markets. The tax cut for top earners was ditched in the middle of the Conservative

It wasn’t enough. On Friday, Truss fired Kwarteng and replaced her longtime friend and ally with Jeremy Hunt, who served as health secretary and foreign secretary in the Conservative governments of David Cameron and Theresa May.

At a brief, downbeat news conference, the prime minister acknowledged that “parts of our mini budget went further and faster than markets were expecting.” She reversed a planned cut in corporation tax, another pillar of her economic plan, to “reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline.”

Truss is still prime minister in name, but power in government has shifted to Hunt, who has signalled that he plans to rip up much of her remaining economic plan when he makes a medium-term budget statement on Oct. 31. He has said tax increases and public spending cuts will be needed to restore the government’s fiscal credibility.

Still, Hunt insisted Sunday: “The prime minister’s in charge.”

“She’s listened. She’s changed. She’s been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics, which is to change tack,” Hunt told the BBC.

The Conservative Party still commands a large majority in Parliament, and — in theory — has two years until a national election must be held. Polls suggest an election would be a wipeout for the Tories, with the Labour Party winning a big majority.

Conservative lawmakers are agonising about whether to try to replace their leader for a second time this year. In July, the party forced out Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who led them to victory in 2019, when serial ethics scandals ensnared his administration.

Now many of them have buyer’s remorse about his replacement. Under party rules, Truss is safe from a leadership challenge for a year, but some Conservative legislators believe she can be forced to resign if the party can agree on a successor. Defeated rival Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and popular Defense Secretary Ben Wallace are among the names being

Junior Treasury minister Andrew Griffith argued Sunday that Truss should be given a chance to try to restore order.

“This is a time when we need stability,” he told Sky News. “People at home are just tearing their hair out at the level of uncertainty. What they want to see is a competent government getting on with (the) job.”

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Police High Command has condemned the brutal murder of a police constable on Ricketts Avenue in St Andrew on Saturday, October 15.

Four other persons were shot and injured in the incident, including a 10-year-old, the police have reported.

The deceased policeman has been identified as 22-year-old Constable Brian Martin, who is from Ricketts Avenue, and was assigned to the Half-Way Tree Police Station.

While the high command mourned the loss of a colleague, elder relatives of the constable reflected on his focus as a youth that led to him joining the constabulary, which are captured in video below.

Reports are that about 10pm, Constable Martin was among a group of persons at a wake in the community when armed men approached the group and opened gunfire.

Law enforcers were summoned and Constable Martin and four other persons were taken to hospital, where Constable Martin died while being treated, and the other persons were admitted in stable conditions.

The Police High Command expressed condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the slain constable, stating the constabulary is mourning the loss of a colleague.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said it is committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder.

“The police will not be deterred by this latest attack. They will continue their focus on ridding communities of guns, gunmen and gangs who continue to cause death, pain and mayhem,” the high command said.

“Furthermore, we will be relentless in our pursuit in bringing those criminals to justice”, it added.

Anyone with information that may assist with the investigation into the constable’s killing is being encouraged to contact Crime Stop at 311 or the police 119 emergency number.

The JCF said its Chaplaincy Branch and Welfare Department are providing support to the family members, friends and colleagues of Martin.

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THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael. PHOTO COURTESY THA –

THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection has called on Tobagonians to be mindful about the pain their words may cause as her division wrapped up its activities for Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Struggling to contain her emotions at times, BYisrael spoke candidly on Saturday, in a Facebook video, about her struggles with fertility and hurtful comments she has received because of it.

“I have contemplated whether I should do this Baby Loss Awareness Week video, for obvious reasons. Many of you know my story. Many of you have heard about the fact that I have also experienced quite a bit as it relates to fertility issues. I know first-hand the pain attached to such a sensitive topic.

“In fact, a couple years ago following a very public embarrassing situation, I launched a foundation that worked to help individuals dealing with fertility issues, including baby loss. It’s a very difficult topic, it’s difficult for most of us who’ve experienced it.”

BYisrael was referring to comments made by former Health Secretary Dr Agatha Carrington during a January 2018 sitting of the assembly. Responding to BYisrael’s contribution, Carrington described her former political rival as “bitter” and advised her to sleep more.

“…if you aspire to getting a family so, you’re not going to get none because if you bitter like that now nobody will make you sweet, far more to make you a parent,” Carrington said.

She later apologised for her comments.

BYisrael said there is genuine pain experienced by families who’ve lost a baby.

“I’m using this opportunity to let us know that these emotions that we’re feeling, they’re all normal. We all are going through them: the sadness, the anxiety, the anger, the frustration, and everything else that goes along with losing a potential baby – one that we’ve been preparing for; one that we’ve announced; one that’s we’ve been telling our friends and families; and we’ve been getting gifts for and setting up the rooms for.

“To not have that baby available, in your arms, is a gut-wrenching feeling. But we are learning how to continue living and processing these feelings; how to allow the people close to us help us, because believe me, they are also scared. They are also afraid to say the wrong thing. That too is normal. All these emotions we are going through is normal and fine.”

BYisrael cautioned people in the community who love to discuss other people’s business without thinking of the consequences.

She said men and women receive unsolicited comments about their ability to have children.

“We live in a world that can be pretty cruel, and sometimes our cultural beliefs cause us to say and believe things that cause harm to others.

“To the wider population, just be a little more conscious of the fact that when you are asking a couple that has been married for a couple years about when they are gonna have their baby, you might be opening a wound that they’ve been trying their best to heal.

“When you tell a woman, ‘Yuh nuh make baby yet?’ you might actually be digging into her soul and causing the pain you may not even be aware of.

“Treat each other with grace,” she advised.

She said the division will continue to support families who have experienced the loss of a baby.

“It’s hard but together we can all do this and get through this difficult time.”

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~ 60 students, teachers, parents were in attendance for the kick-off of the accelerator ~

GREAT BAY — Application to the National Youth Pitch Competition closed on September 30.  Sixteen (16) teams comprising a total of forty-nine (49) students in eight (8) of the ten (10) secondary schools applied. Teams consisted on average of three students and most schools entered multiple applications to the competition.

Business ideas range from retail to agritech (agriculture technology) to recreation to beauty to circular economy. All teams had to submit an overview of financials and a video indicating what they would do with the grand prize of ANG 10 000, should they win.

In the past few weeks, the Minister of Finance, Hon. Ardwell Irion and the founder of Islandpreneur, Dr. Ife Badejo, visited some of the schools and spoke with the teams. Minister Irion and Dr. Badejo shared why this competition was made and heard the business ideas of the students while sharing their own experiences and importance of financial literacy.

The  accelerator launched on October 13 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at the Government Administration Building. Initially designed for the top 5 teams, the launch of the accelerator was opened to all applicants, participating school representatives, and parents. Sixty (60) persons showed up at the Government Administration Building including students from the majority of all 16 teams. The kick-off included the first session of the accelerator program focused on the essentials of entrepreneurship using a tool called the Lean Model Canvas.

Damien Schmidt was the guest coach for the Lean Model Canvas and covered topics such as problem, customer, value proposition, solutions, and unfair advantage. Minister Irion covered costs and revenues and Dr. Badejo expounded on the key metrics and channels.

Though initially only five teams were to move on to the accelerator as finalists, due to the engagement and amazing interaction, it was decided to extend that invitation to all participating schools. This means that eight (8) teams will participate in the accelerator and also in the finals scheduled on November 20, 2022.

Finalist teams are:

NfuZion from St. Maarten Vocational Training School, which focuses on healthy drinks,
Cropin from St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E, which is a peer to peer app focused on food security,
The Honest Cookie Company from St. Maarten Academy, which focuses on providing healthy cookies,
SXM House Finder from Caribbean International Academy, which is designed to find housing and real estate information on St. Maarten,
AO Essentials from Sundial, which is a fashion line,
SmartHax from St. Dominic High School, which is producing a life saving jacket for hikers,
Upcycl from Milton Peters College, which focuses on upcycling waste products and selling recycled goods, and
Brave from Leaning Unlimited, which is focused on creating games to support mental health.

The finals of the National Youth Pitch Competition will take place on November 20, 2022, during Global Entrepreneurship Week and will have both international and local judges. Each team has two (2) minutes to pitch and jury panelists have ten (10) minutes for questions.   Judges will score based on criteria such as creativity, viability, scalability, leadership, and presentation. The team with the highest score wins ANG 10 000 and an entrepreneurial exchange abroad. The audience, both in-person and streaming audience, will get to vote for their favorite.  The team that is deemed the “Crowd Favorite”  wins ANG 2500.

Organizers are hopeful that this competition will provide the youth with an opportunity to showcase their business ideas and develop their skills. In the long-term, this competition is poised to support sustainable economic growth through the development of financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills and innovative solutions.

Islandpreneur equips island-based entrepreneurs and creators to embrace digital tools, accelerate growth, and profitably scale their businesses. It does so through media and a variety of entrepreneurship development programs. Official partners include the Ministry of Finance and TelEm N.V. the official telecommunications provider.

Photo captions:1) Top Photo of Hon. Ardwell Irion, Minister of Finance (l), Dr. Ife Badejo, Founder of Islandpreneur (c) and Damien Schmidt, MBA, Project Coordinator of Princess Juliana International Airport and guest lecturer (r).
2) Below photo: Minister Irion and Mr. Schmidt engaging with the students at the kick-off held on October 13, 2022.

For more information, stay connected on Facebook, www.fb.com/iamislandpreneur, visit www.islandpreneur.co or contact the team at Islandpreneur at hello@islandpreneur.co.

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Related articles:Application Opens for the First Ever National Youth Pitch CompetitionMinister of Finance launches corporate governance traineeshipMinistry of Finance and Islandpreneur partner to Accelerate Growth

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