Upheaval in UK: the sobering challenges facing new PM Truss & new King Charles III

Tony Blair on the UK's troubled present and uncertain future | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

In early September, in just 48 hours the UK got a new prime minister (Liz Truss) and a new king (Charles III, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II).

Both take over at a turbulent time in British politics, with no shortage of current and future challenges. To name just a few: a stagnant economy, sky-high energy prices, more Brexit fallout with the EU, and Scots demanding a fresh independence vote.

On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to former British PM Tony Blair (1997-2007), who believes there will be a lot of uncertainty over the next year or two if Truss insists on big tax cuts and big borrowing.

Blair also looks back at the queen's legacy and the future of the monarchy, explains why Brexit will hurt but probably not fragment the UK, and defends why we need to return to his comfort zone of the political center to fix today's problems.

More from GZERO Media

A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Harbin Z-9 helicopter sits on CNS Yulin during a display of warships ahead of an exhibition at Changi Naval Base in Singapore on May 18, 2015.

REUTERS/Edgar Su

A Chinese naval helicopter flew nearly 10 feet from a Philippine patrol plane on Tuesday over a contested reef in the South China Sea, escalating tensions with Manila and Washington in the airspace over international waterways Beijing claims as its own.

- YouTube

What is Trump's long-term play with apparently treating Putin like a friend rather than an adversary? How likely would the release of all remaining captives, as proposed by Hamas, actually lead to a permanent truce with Israel? Does Bolsonaro's indictment for an alleged coup plot signal tough times ahead for Brazil? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Delegates affiliated to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) react during a meeting for the planned signing, later postponed, of a political charter that would provide for a "Government of Peace and Unity" to govern the territories the force controls in Nairobi, Kenya, February 18, 2025.
REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi
The U.S. and Russian delegations meet at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool

It was the first high level meeting between the two countries since Moscow's full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Police officers stand guard as Congolese youngsters jostle to receive relief food, after fleeing from renewed clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. February 18, 2025.
REUTERS/Evrard Ngendakumana

100: M23 rebels – a Rwanda-backed militia – took control of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s second-largest city, Bukavu, on Monday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, sits beside then-Senior Counselor to the President Steve Bannon, left, as President Donald Trump hosts a strategy and policy forum with chief executives of major US companies at the White House in February 2017.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The latest salvo at Musk from Steve Bannon reflects the sharpening of already rough-edged rivalries within Trump’s circle between hard-core populists and hyper-libertarians.