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6 Britain

6 Britain October 1 2022 | World and Press Liz Truss to replace Boris Johnson as next U.K. prime minister POLITICS Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, won the support of her party’s activists with promises of tax cuts and her loyalty to Boris Johnson. By Karla Adam and William Booth 1 LIZ TRUSSwill become the next prime minister of Britain, taking over from Boris Johnson at a time of economic peril and political upheaval in the United Kingdom. Truss, Britain’s 47-yearold foreign secretary, won the support of her party’s grass roots with promises of tax cuts and with her fealty to Johnson, who was booted from Downing Street by Conservative lawmakers but is already missed by rank-and-file party members. 2 She will travel to Scotland on Tuesday to be appointed by Queen Elizabeth II and then enter 10 Downing Street as the third woman to serve as British prime minister. Truss is far less colorful, less verbose than her former backslapping boss – perhaps in a good way. Johnson was ousted by his lawmakers in his own party because he couldn’t, even when pressed, tell the whole truth during a string of scandals. 3 Truss wasn’t the top choice of Conservative Party lawmakers, and a majority of Brits tell pollsters she will be a “poor” or “terrible” prime minister, but she was the favorite among the Tory activists who selected the leader of their party and Britain in a vote announced Monday. 4 In a brief speech accepting leadership of the party, Truss remained loyal and gave Johnson props. “Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed [Labour Party leader] Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine, and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You are admired Liz Truss smiles after she was chosen to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister. | Photo: Picture Alliance/EPA/Neil Hall from Kyiv to Carlisle,” she said, referring to a small city in northern England. At one point during the five-minute speech, Truss read in a monotone: “We will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver” – to a smattering of applause by her party members. Commentators often declare her oratory “wooden.” Although she’s an optimist like Johnson, she doesn’t go for the fist-pumping or metaphormaking he is known for. 5 Challenger Rishi Sunak – though the preferred choice among Conservative members of Parliament – had a tough time convincing his party’s voters that tackling inflation should come before tax cuts. And Sunak’s leading role in Johnson’s ouster seemed to hurt him with the grass roots. Angry Tories called him a “Brutus.” 6 It was Sunak’s fiery departure as chancellor of the Exchequer in July that launched the revolt against Johnson. An avalanche of resignations followed. Conservative Party lawmakers said they could no longer trust a prime minister who prevaricated his way through scandal after scandal (and could no longer be counted on to help win elections). 7 Because this was not a general election, most of Britain was sitting on the sidelines while a “selectorate” of 172,437 dues-paying Conservative Party members – less than 0.3% of the population – determined the country’s political future. Truss won with 81,326 votes, ahead of Sunak’s 60,399. According to a YouGov poll, 12% of the general public say Truss will be a good or great prime minister compared with 52% who say she will be poor or terrible. 8 In addition to the war in Ukraine and the fallout of Brexit, the new prime minister will inherit a vast range of economic and political problems. The Bank of England predicts Britain will suffer through protracted recession, beginning as early as October. Inflation already stands at 10%, with economists warning that 15% is possible. In her victory speech, Truss pledged to “deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.” 9 The British public is alarmed at skyrocketing gas and electric bills, an issue that will dominate Truss’s domestic agenda from Day 1, wiping out the honeymoon period often awarded to incoming leaders. Truss has promised to help with those bills – but she hasn’t said how. Other pressing challenges include threats of industrial action, ongoing questions about Scottish independence, and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which could put her on an early collision course with Europe. 10 “She has an outstanding inbox,” said Bronwen Maddox, director of Chatham House, a U.K. think tank. “In terms of the known knowns, what is facing her is huge.” 11 In an opinion piece in the ‘Sunday Telegraph,’ Truss described Britain as stuck with low productivity, high taxes, overregulation, and an inability to do big things. “We will break with the same old tax and spend approach by focusing on growth and investment,” she said. She complained of the “heaviest tax burden in 70 years.” She said it was outrageous that there had not been a new water reservoir or nuclear power plant built in a quarter-century. 12 The disconnect of her words was noted by her critics, who pointed out that Truss didn’t mention that her party has been in power for the past 12 years – and that she has served in the cabinet since 2012 – so these problems were the doings of the Conservatives. 13 On the specifics, it’s hard to know what to expect from Truss, because she hasn’t revealed any details. She is a shapeshifting politician. She was a centrist Liberal Democrat in her youth before joining the Conservative Party; she argued for abolishing the monarchy before affirming her support for it; and she voted for Britain to remain in the European Union before becoming a hardcore Brexiteer. As foreign secretary, she was a reliable NATO ally and Ukraine supporter, talking tough on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. … 14 While unpopular in Moscow, Truss also has few fans in Brussels. E.U. leaders see her as an agitator, an anti-Europe opportunist who could make matters even worse in the rocky postdivorce relationship between Britain and the 27-nation bloc. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Truss on Monday, saying, “I look forward to a constructive relationship, in full respect of our agreements.” B2 – C2 © 2022 The Washington Post Von Magna Carta bis Devolution Extra: The United Kingdom – The Political System ¤ 16,90 ISBN 978-3-7961-1154-9 www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 1 FOREIGN SECRETARYAußenminister(in) — tax cuts Steuersenkungen — peril “"per´l‘ Gefahr; h.: Probleme — upheaval “øp"hi…v´l‘ Turbulenzen — grass roots (fig) Basis — fealty “"fi…lti‘ Loyalität — to boot s.o. from s.th. jdn. aus etw. hinauswerfen — lawmaker Abgeordnete(r) — rank-and-file … … der Basis 2 – 3 to appoint “´"pOInt‘ ernennen — colorful (fig) ausgefallen — verbose “v‰…"b´Us‘ wortreich — backslapping leutselig — to oust s.o. “aUst‘ jdn. aus e-m Amt entfernen; s.w.u. ouster Rauswurf — a string of e-e Reihe von — pollster “"p´Ulst´‘ Meinungsforscher(in) 4 – 5 to give s.o. props jdm. danken — to crush s.o. jdn. vernichtend schlagen — to roll out einführen — vaccine “"vœksi…n‘ Impfstoff — to stand up to s.o. jdm. die Stirn bieten — a smattering of applause “´"plO…z‘ schwacher A. — oratory “"År´t´ri‘ Redegewandtheit — metaphor-making “"met´fO…‘ Einsatz von Metaphern — to tackle bekämpfen 6 – 7 fiery “"faI´ri‘ hitzig; leidenschaftlich — chancellor of the Exchequer “"tSA…ns´l´; Iks"tSek´‘ brit. Finanzminister(in) — avalanche “"œv´lA…ntS‘ Lawine — resignation “ÆrezIg"neIS´n‘ Rücktritt — to prevaricate “prI"vœrIkeIt‘ die Wahrheit verdrehen — general election Parlamentswahl — to sit on the sidelines (fig) unbeteiligter Zuschauer sein — selectorate “sI"lekt´r´t‘ Gruppe von Stimmberechtigten — dues-paying beitragzahlend — to determine “dI"t‰…mIn‘ bestimmen 8 fallout Folgen — to inherit “In"herIt‘ erben — range Palette — protracted “pr´"trœktId‘ langwierig — economist Volkswirt(in) — to pledge versprechen 9 – 10 to skyrocket “"---‘ in die Höhe schnellen — domestic agenda innenpolit. Tagesordnung — to wipe out eliminieren — incoming h.: neu gewählt — threat “Tret‘ Androhung — industrial action Arbeitskampf — ongoing fortdauernd — collision course “k´"lIZ´n‘ Kollisionskurs — inbox Posteingang; h.: Liste an Aufgaben — known knowns bekannte Probleme 11 – 12 overregulation “Æ--Æregj´"leIS´n‘ Überregulierung — approach “´"pr´UtS‘ Herangehensweise — tax burden Steuerlast — outrageous “Æ-"reIdZ´s‘ ungeheuerlich — nuclear power plant “"nju…klI´‘ Atomkraftwerk — disconnect “"dIsk´nekt‘ Kluft 13 – 14 specifics Einzelheiten — to reveal preisgeben — shapeshifting wandlungsfähig — centrist gemäßigt — to abolish “´"bÅlIS‘ abschaffen — to affirm “´"f‰…m‘ bekräftigen — Brexiteer Brexit-Befürworter(in) — ally “"œlaI‘ Verbündete(r) — agitator “"œdZIteIt´‘ Aufwiegler(in) — rocky schwierig

World and Press | October 1 2022 England’s traffic-clogged North bitter over stalled high-speed rail plan NORTHERN ENGLAND Transport problems are just one symptom of the economic neglect that has long hobbled the region. By Aina J. Khan in Bradford Britain 7 1 AS HANIYYA EJAZboards her crowded morning train in the northern city of Bradford, an automated announcement tinged with a cheery Yorkshire accent chimes, “Welcome aboard this northern service to Leeds.” But the ten-mile commute between the two cities is far from a welcome one for Ejaz, whose daily train journeys to her classes at a college in Leeds are usually plagued with delays, understaffing, overcrowding, and cancellations. In one study, her home, Bradford, was bestowed the dubious honor of being the worstconnected city in Britain, reflecting a common problem across northern England. 2 “Usually, my train is either late or it has arrived on time, but I’ll find out it has no driver,” said Ejaz, a 19-year-old student at the University of Leeds. “I thought trains would be a lot more dependable, since you don’t have traffic. But it’s been just as bad as buses, if not worse.” 3 The transport problems besetting Bradford are just one symptom of the economic neglect that has long hobbled the North of England, where growth, employment, and health care mostly lag far behind the South. Successive governments have pledged to tackle the problem, including, most recently, the administration of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has pledged to “level up” the North and bring to it the prosperity of the South. 4 One initiative – a £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan that includes a high-speed rail project, HS2 – has been promoted by the government in recent years as a Bradford, England. A proposal for an upgraded station in the city did not pan out. | Photos: Mary Turner/The New York Times key effort to alleviate the North’s transportation woes. But in November, Britain’s transportation secretary, Grant Shapps, suggested that a plan for an eastern leg of the line – the branch toward Leeds – had been indefinitely dropped. 5 Adding salt to the wounds of people in the area, a request by the Bradford Council and several supporters for an east-to-west track connecting major northern cities such as Manchester, Leeds, and Bradford to be included in another line, Northern Powerhouse Rail, and a new upgraded station in Bradford were ignored. “A new line from Manchester to Leeds via a new station in Bradford would cost an additional £10 billion alone,” a spokesperson for the Department for Transport said in a statement. 6 The evaporating dreams of better railways have angered many people in the affected areas and prompted feelings of betrayal by the government in London, which enjoys the best connections in Britain. “A lot of things in the North get neglected,” Ejaz said. “People have just accepted that this is the standard of train services that they have.” 7 Mandy Ridyard, a director at Produmax, an aerospace factory in Bradford that makes parts for companies including Boeing, said one of her employees resigned last year because of the terrible traffic on the road from his home in Manchester, about 30 miles away. That road, the M62, is a stretch of highway that includes some of the most congested areas in Britain. “After three or four years of not getting home in time to see his kids to bed, he just gave up because the traffic was just getting worse and worse,” Ridyard said. “We’re only asking for what other parts of the country have had forever.” 8 Bradford, home to more than a half-million people, is Britain’s youngest city. More than one-quarter of its population is younger than 18, but almost 10% of its 18- to 24-year-olds receive unemployment-related benefits, a number about double the national average for that age group, according to figures shared with ‘The New York Times’ by the Bradford Council. 9 At Produmax, where a poster of a caped superhero hangs in the warehouse declaring, “Engineering superheroes this way,” about 20% of employees are teenagers completing an apprenticeship program, according to the company. Ridyard said she worried that a failure to improve rail links could hurt social mobility in inner-city areas of Bradford, as well as in surrounding commuter towns and cities, and badly affect young people. “If you have to have a car to get somewhere because the train connections don’t work,” she said, “we’re not talking about a level playing field.” 10 To make up for dropping the high-speed rail, the government has offered some concessionary upgrades on existing lines. Archaic Victorian-era rail tracks would be electrified, cutting A train station in Leeds. Many northern English cities have long been plagued with poor transportation infrastructure. journey times for a handful of existing routes (a journey to Bradford from Leeds would be cut by almost half under the new plans). And capacity on northern train services would be increased. But there are no firm dates on when all this will be completed. 11 Not everyone was in support of the high-speed rail line in the North. Edna Small, 77, a retired teacher, moved to Church Fenton, a village in North Yorkshire enveloped by lush countryside, in 2007. Under proposed plans for HS2 released a few years later, Church Fenton, with an estimated population of about 1,500, would have been one of the last stops on its eastern leg. 12 After news emerged that a 50-foot viaduct would have thundered through the quiet outskirts of the village and that her home would be pincered by the viaduct and the local train station on either side, Small joined a group of anti-HS2 campaigners. The halting of the eastern branch of HS2 brought a sense of relief, even if by then, Small, 77, had already sold her home, whose market value, she said, had been diminished by the railway plans. “It was going to destroy the whole area,” she said. “It was a vanity project.” 13 “But Bradford has been left in the lurch,” Small conceded. “The government make promises they never keep.” © 2022 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 – 1 TRAFFIC-CLOGGED “klÅgd‘ vom Verkehrsinfarkt bedroht (clogged verstopft) — stalled “stO…ld‘ auf Eis gelegt; blockiert — neglect “nI"glekt‘ Vernachlässigung; s.w.u. to neglect — to hobble s.th. etw. behindern — tinged with … “tIndZd‘ gefärbt mit; h.: mit e-m leichten … — cheery fröhlich — to chime “tSaIm‘ ertönen — commute “k´"mju…t‘ Pendelstrecke — to be plagued with s.th. “pleIgd‘ unter etw. leiden — understaffing Personalmangel — overcrowding Überfüllung — to bestow “bI"st´U‘ zuteilwerden lassen 2 – 3 dependable “dI"pend´b´l‘ zuverlässig — to beset “-"-‘ heimsuchen; plagen — health care Gesundheitswesen — to lag behind (fig) hinterherhinken — successive “s´k"sesIv‘ aufeinanderfolgend — to pledge versprechen — to level up angleichen; auf ein höheres Niveau bringen — prosperity “prÅs"per´ti‘ Wohlstand 4 – 5 to promote bewerben — to alleviate “´"li…vieIt‘ lindern — woes Probleme; Nöte — transportation secretary Verkehrsminister(in) — leg Abschnitt — branch Teilstrecke — indefinitely “In"defIn´tli‘ auf unbestimmte Zeit — wound “wu…nd‘ Wunde — spokesperson Sprecher(in) — Department for Transport Verkehrsministerium 6 – 7 to evaporate “I"vœp´reIt‘ s. verflüchtigen — to anger “"œNg´‘ verärgern — to prompt hervorrufen — betrayal “bI"treI´l‘ Verrat — train service Zugverbindung — aerospace Luft- und Raumfahrt — to resign kündigen — stretch Strecke — congested “k´n"dZestId‘ verkehrsreich; überlastet 8 – 9 unemployment-related benefits Arbeitslosenunterstützung — caped superhero Superheld mit Umhang — warehouse Lager — engineering Maschinenbau — apprenticeship program “´"prentIsSIp‘ Ausbildungsprogramm — failure “"feIlj´‘ Versäumnis — social mobility soziale Aufstiegschancen — commuter town Vorort (c. Pendler[in]) — level playing field Chancengleichheit 10 – 11 to make up for s.th. etw. kompensieren — concessionary “k´n"seS´n´ri‘ als Zugeständnis — archaic “A…"keIIk‘ veraltet — to electrify “i"lektrIfaI‘ elektrifizieren — firm fest — enveloped “In"vel´pt‘ umgeben — lush saftig grün 12 – 13 to emerge bekannt werden — 50-foot ca. 15,2 m hoch — to thunder donnern — outskirts “"aUtsk‰…ts‘ Peripherie — to pincer “"pIns´‘ (fig) in die Zange nehmen — halting “"hÅltIN‘ Stopp — relief Erleichterung — to diminish “dI"mInIS‘ mindern — vanity project “"vœn´ti‘ Prestigeprojekt (v. Eitelkeit) — to leave s.o. in the lurch “l‰…tS‘ jdn. im Stich lassen — to concede “k´n"si…d‘ einräumen

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