LONDON — A British cabinet member conceded on Friday, “I don’t know where Boris is,” as the prime minister went on vacation, capping off a week in which the Bank of England warned of a year-long recession.
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie have been on a belated honeymoon since Wednesday. Downing Street has declined to identify where the pair is, although The Times daily reports that they are in Slovenia.
Johnson will have a lot more time on his hands after September 6, when he is supposed to pass over the Conservative leadership to either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, but he elected to take a sabbatical sooner.
The opposition Labour Party accused the government’s two top ministers of being “absent in activity,” with Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi among them.
He stated that he exchanges WhatsApp messages with both Johnson and Zahawi “all the time,” and that claims that the government is doing little to address the economic issue is “nonsense.”
On Thursday, Zahawi claimed he spoke with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey after the central bank raised interest rates from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent, the largest increase in 27 years.
As the UK economy enters a recession in the fourth quarter that will run until late 2023, the bank is attempting to contain rising inflation, which it has warned might reach 13.3 percent.
