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BBC Pidgin of Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Source: BBC

Di five most urgent problems for UK new prime minister

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak don become UK new prime minister to replace Liz Truss. E dey enta office to inherit some challenges from Ms Truss as BBC tori pipo go explain Fixing di Economy Rishi Sunak go enta No 10 with very few promises from im campaign, but as chancellor, e bin warn about di danger of rising prices. One key wahala wey go face am na di Energy Price Guarantee. Di Energy Price Guarantee na subsidy programme wey dey help homes and businesses to fit cope with di rising price on gas and electricity bills. For Liz Truss administration, di scheme bin dey set up for two years, but di new chancellor Jeremy Hunt say di guarantee go only last till April. We sabi say oga Sunak no wan rush to promise say di scheme go continue afta dat time. But normal family energy bill wey be £2,500 fit rise to pass £4,000 next spring, wey go raise inflation like mad. Meanwhile, Oga Sunak don guarantee say benefits tax credits and pensions go rise with di inflation rate of 10.1%. But with di borrowing gap of about £30-40bn, e no clear weda dat promise go still dey. Right now, di financial markets trust Oga Sunak so e fit make im economic repair job to dey easier. Markets don make goment borrowing costs to dey lower wey fit mean beta mortgage rates. E fit also mean say di Bank of England go raise interest rates just small. Wia NHS savings go come from As plenti pipo still dey wait for hospital treatment as medical personnel dey threaten to strike ova pay, and as winter dey come, oga Sunak go dey flag down emergencies from day one. So im own policies and vision go need wait. For summer, Oga Sunak bin tok about waste plenti times, say e wan run vaccine type taskforce wey go improve efficiency and bring plan to charge patients wey miss dia appointment £10. For health service many pipo no trust say di ideas make sense but dem say e go take strong stance on di mata of savings. Maybe e no go cut budget but e go ask di service to do more with di same money, to try comot di backlog. One of di important tins for dis plan na delayed discharges, wey dey happun wen patients wey dey ready to comot hospital no fit find care dem need for dia community. Workers strike around UK Tiens of thousands of workers don already go on strike dis year like train drivers, dock workers, mail workers, criminal lawyers and telcom staff. University lecturers don vote to start dia own strike while nurses, junior doctors and teachers dem dey consider strikes. Even though plenti mata dey inside these strikes dem, di common tin na money. Price rises don increase cost of living and wages no dey match up. So unions don dey ginger for more money for di members. Howeva, if companies pay dia workers more, dem go need to charge more for wetin dem dey sell, wey mean say prices go increase for evribodi. Di goment wey dey struggle to balance dia books no go wan pay public sector workers more too. But di new prime minister go dey desperate to avoid di current industrial unrest wey dey gada morale. Legislation to reduce di impact of transport strikes don already dey table. But e dey likely say di priority na to solve di wahala from foundation by controlling inflation. Support for Ukraine and defence spending UK policy for Ukraine no go change under oga Sunak. But for di summer, e say e go maintain Britain backing and go visit Kyiv. E say, "If I become prime minister, I go redouble efforts and reinforce our policy of total support to Ukraine wey Boris bin lead". But to continue to give Ukraine military support for di long term go cost money, and no one sure wetin oga Sunak approach to defence spending go be. Ms Truss bin promise to increase spending from 2% to 3% of national wealth for 2030. But oga Sunak say dat target "no be plan". E go also face challenge to support Ukraine wen e no dey popular politically again. Oga Sunak go need to get voters support say dia financial discomfort dey worth it to defend Ukraine.