Rishi Sunak vows to fix ‘mistakes’ of Liz Truss in first speech as British prime minister

The freshly-appointed Conservative leader warned there are “difficult decisions to come” as he made his first speech from Downing Street after meeting the King Charles III.

Tue, 25 Oct, 2022 - 12:11

Sam Blewett, PA Deputy Political Editor

New British prime minister Rishi Sunak warned the nation is facing a “profound economic crisis” as he pledged to fix the “mistakes” of Liz Truss’s leadership.

The freshly-appointed Conservative leader warned there are “difficult decisions to come” as he made his first speech from Downing Street after meeting King Charles III.

Mr Sunak, 42, is the UK’s first Hindu PM, the first of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years.

He was appointed British prime minister by King Charles after he accepted the resignation of Ms Truss after just 49 days in office, making her the shortest-serving leader in history.

In his speech from Downing Street, Mr Sunak said it was “only right to explain why I’m standing here as your new prime minister”, saying: “Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis.” He said it is the lingering aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s destabilising war in Ukraine.

Mr Sunak said Ms Truss was “not wrong” to want to drive up growth, describing it as a “noble aim”.

He added:

But some mistakes were made. Not born of ill-will or bad intentions – quite the opposite in fact. But mistakes nonetheless.

“I’ve been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister in part to fix them – and that work begins immediately.” He vowed to place “economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda”, after the financial chaos triggered by Ms Truss.

“This will mean difficult decisions to come,” he said, but he promised to repeat the “compassion” he showed during the coronavirus pandemic.

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