Chris Green MP: Exciting times on the world stage

England are off to a cracking start in the Rugby League World Cup and it was wonderful to see them beat France in Horwich.

I know that there are bigger games to come but it is great to see the team bag another win and guarantee a place in the quarter final.

The BBC is covering all of the games so we should look forward to a big boost for the sport especially if we get to the final and face New Zealand or Australia.

I am not a betting man so I am not going to speculate on the results of the coming games but the sport, including the ladies and wheelchair games, has got to be good for participation.

In other big news, we have a new Prime Minister.

Rishi Sunak was the Chancellor under Boris Johnson when we faced the Covid-19 pandemic and had the huge responsibility of helping our economy navigate through that difficult time.

People often say about manifesto mandates and the duty of Governments to fulfil those promises but events overtake electoral promises and, as most would expect, we adapt to circumstances.

The furlough scheme and other emergency measures could not have been in any manifesto but the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak had to act when the lockdowns were imposed.

The disruption to our national life and the impact on the economy is what has now triggered many of our economic problems and the money spent is what created the spike in inflation that has led to the interest rate rises.

There was a remarkable national consensus at that time to take the actions that Rishi Sunak did and he is now in the perfect position to steer us through those turbulent times.

If dealing with the fall out from Covid was not already tough enough, Russia – the biggest energy producer in Europe – invaded Ukraine – the biggest food producer in Europe – and triggered ongoing problems with the cost of energy, food and other commodities.

It also further damaged global supply chains just as they were recovering from the effects of the worldwide lockdowns.

The politics of replacing Prime Ministers in this way are complex but the principles are relatively straightforward.

Voters send their Members of Parliament to Westminster to form a Government and make difficult decisions.

It is the responsibility of MPs and their respective parties to form a Government under a Prime Minister who commands a majority.

This is what we have been doing and it is a mercy that we have been able to conclude the process so quickly.

I know that some people, as we head into winter, want to spend six weeks in a General Election race but we all know that no vital decisions can be made during an election.

Rishi Sunak emerged as the new Prime Minister though our Parliamentary process and I have every confidence that he will give the leadership we need.