Rishi Sunak says he’ll fix Liz Truss’s mistakes 

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Rishi Sunak says he’ll fix Liz Truss’s mistakes 

Rishi Sunak has met King Charles at Buckingham Palace and been made new PM, taking over from Liz Truss

Rishi Sunak plunged the knife in on Liz Truss today pledging to ‘fix’ her ‘mistakes’ and win back the public’s ‘trust’ after taking over as Britain’s 57th PM.

The incoming premier addressed the nation from Downing Street after being asked to form a government by King Charles in the traditional ‘kissing hands’ ceremony at Buckginham Palace.

In a sombre speech, he warned of ‘difficult’ decisions to deal with the ‘profound economic crisis’ facing the country, saying he ‘understood’ that Britons were suffering. Rebutting jibes that he is too wealthy to identify with the struggles of ordinary people, he said: ‘I fully understand how hard things are.’

In a swipe at Boris Johnson, who dramatically pulled out of the Tory leadership battle on Sunday night, Mr Sunak said the ‘mandate’ from the 2019 election did not belong to any individual. He also stressed his government will have ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level’.

Mr Sunak has now begun forming his first Cabinet, with Jacob Rees-Mogg and Brandon Lewis early casualties.

Earlier, Ms Truss hailed her ‘significant achievements’ as she gave her farewell remarks outside No10 – sealing her fate as the shortest-serving PM ever.

 

Watched by husband Hugh, her two daughters, staff and ministers, Ms Truss made a defiant valedictory speech in Downing Street – with little hint of emotion and no apology.

Mr Sunak said he admired the way Ms Truss – who soundly defeated him for the leadership just seven weeks ago before the wheels came off her administration – was ‘restless to create change’.

But he bluntly stated that ‘mistakes had been made’.  ‘Not born of ill will, or bad intentions,’ he said.

‘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.

‘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.’