Five key vows from Rishi Sunak’s first speech as PM – and how the changes will affect millions of Brits
RISHI Sunak has delivered his debut speech as Prime Minister on Downing Street.
The former Chancellor visited King Charles at Buckingham Palace this morning for a formal “kissing of the hands ceremony”, where he officially took over the top job from Liz Truss.
The new PM has a mammoth job ahead of him, with the cost of living crisis crippling household income and inflation soaring at 10.1 per cent.
But Mr Sunak made clear he is under no illusion the task ahead will be easy.
In his major speech he vowed to attack the problems facing Britain head on, with professionalism and accountability.
In a dramatic day of politics…
- Rishi Sunak today vowed to fix the “mistakes” made by Liz Truss as he became Britain’s 57th Prime Minister
- Liz Truss remained defiant over her short-lived time in the top job
- Boris Johnson congratulated Rishi and urged the Tories to support the new PM
- King Charles met with Rishi at Buckingham Palace today
- Read Rishi’s first speech as PM in full here
Here are five key vows from his address.
I’ll fix Liz’s mistakes
Mr Sunak promised to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor Liz Truss.
Ms Truss’ disastrous mini budget sent mortgages soaring and the pound plummeting.
The PM vowed to what he can to reverse the damage done.
But he warned this will involve tough decision making.
Mr Sunak said: “I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss
she was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country
it is a noble aim.
“And I admired her restlessness to create change. But some mistakes were made. Not borne of ill will or bad intentions. Quite the opposite, in fact. But mistakes nonetheless.
“And I have been elected as leader of my party, and your Prime Minister, in part, to fix them. And that work begins immediately.
“I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda.”
No early election
Mr Sunak made very clear that the Tory 2019 manifesto was “a mandate that belongs and unites all of us”.
Through this he implied that he isn’t under any moral obligation to call an early general election.
The PM said he’s “grateful” to Boris Johnson for his “incredible achievements”.
But crucially he added that the mandate BoJo inherited is just as much his too.
The 2019 manifesto will be delivered
Mr Sunak vowed to push ahead with the pledges contained in the popular 2019 Tory manifesto.
He singled out delivering: A stronger NHS, better schools, safer streets, control of our borders, protecting our environment, supporting our armed forces, levelling up.
Compassionate Conservatism
Mr Sunak promised to take a “compassionate” approach to the Conservative government he leads.
He vowed not to burden the next generation with masses of debt that “we are too weak to pay ourselves”.
Mr Sunak has previously pledged to target state help at the most hard-up in society.
All eyes now will be on whether the ex-Chancellor uprates benefits in line with inflation next year and commits to keeping the pension triple lock.
Difficult decisions to come
The PM hinted that there could be spending cuts down the road, as the government looks to plug a £40bn black hole in public finances.
Mr Sunak hasn’t ruled out the NHS, police and schools as possibly being open for cuts.
On October 31 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to deliver a fiscal statement that should outline exactly which services face the chop.
Mr Sunak said: “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come.
“But you saw me during Covid, doing everything I could, to protect people and businesses, with schemes like furlough. There are always limits, more so now than ever, but I promise you this I will bring that same compassion to the challenges we face today.”