Amid economic challenges, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed confidence in the upcoming elections and said that he is "totally up for the fight".
The UK elections are likely to take place in the second half of this year. As per the opinion polls, opposition Labour Party is way ahead of the Conservatives.
In an interview with The Times, the 43-year-old PM said he had reasons to be optimistic as the economy has improved and "there is a sense that the country is pointing in the right direction."
He also added that he would slash taxes soon as it was "responsible to do so".
"Economic conditions have improved, because the plan is working, you are starting to see mortgage rates come down and we have been able to cut taxes...I do believe those pressures are starting to ease and that hopefully over the course of this year we can continue to make even more progress," he told the newspaper.
The decision to cut taxes emerged after the publication of his own tax summary revealed his UK tax bill more than 5,00,000 euros last year, as his total income rose to 2.2 million euros.
While echoing the views of UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Sunak said “None of us ever talk about this stuff before budgets. Other people are. I think they’re over-interpreting. What the chancellor and I have said is that of course our long-term plan is to cut people’s taxes.”
Meanwhile, with the elections nearing, thousands of doctors in UK are to go on 5-day strike later this month as their long-standing pay dispute with the British government remains in stasis.
The government failed to meet the deadline to put an improved pay offer on the table, said the British Medical Association--the union representing the junior doctors. The doctors are gearing for strike from February 24-28.
The Conservative government has said it won't negotiate unless the union calls off the strike. While the opposition Labour Party pointed fingers at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for personally blocking the progress.
