“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 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…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’.” – The Daily Mail
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“A striking number of cabinet ministers remained in their post or returned to jobs they had previously held. One senior Downing Street official said three themes underpinned this decision.“Unity by drawing on the best talent across the party. Experience — we are in serious times, we need people with experience. And continuity — given challenges we face as a nation, you’ll see continuity in some key roles,” the official said. Sunak rewarded his closest political allies, who had stuck by him during the previous leadership race in the dog days of late August even when it became clear that he would lose to Liz Truss. They include Dominic Raab, who returns as justice secretary and deputy prime minister, positions he last held under former prime minister Boris Johnson.” – The Financial Times
>Today:
“Rishi Sunak has recreated Liz Truss’s top team and retained leading allies of Boris Johnson in a cabinet that emphasises continuity over change. Although Sunak distanced himself from both Truss and Johnson in his speech outside Downing Street, almost every senior appointment served under one or both of his predecessors. Sunak’s decision to keep Jeremy Hunt at the Treasury and James Cleverly at the Foreign Office, and to bring Suella Braverman back as home secretary, means that the great offices of state look exactly the same as they did six days ago… Gove is reappointed to the Department for Levelling Up, which Johnson created for him last year but sacked him from in July in a last-ditch effort to save his crumbling government. He is now serving under his fourth prime minister..” – The Times
“Suella Braverman tonight returned to the role of Home Secretary – just six days after she was dramatically forced to quit the position after breaking ministerial rules. Rishi Sunak appointed Mrs Braverman back to her former job as the new Prime Minister carried out a reshuffle of Government ranks on entering No10. She replaces Grant Shapps, who had filled the role for the six days Mrs Braverman was away from the Home Office. It means Mr Shapps now holds the unenviable record…as the shortest-serving Home Secretary in modern political history.Mrs Braverman’s return to the job of Home Secretary will be viewed as part of Mr Sunak’s efforts to woo the Tories’ right-wing as he bids to reunite the party.” – The Daily Mail
“Fuming Penny Mordaunt stormed out of No10 last night after being snubbed in Rishi Sunak’s controversial new Cabinet. The new PM dished out top jobs to close pals while also keeping a handful of supporters of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson in a quest for party unity. But, after an hour of wrangling, the Tory leader kept vanquished leadership rival Ms Mordaunt as Commons Leader despite her courting a plum post such as Foreign Secretary. She emerged from Downing Street with a face like thunder, refusing to talk to the waiting media. Allies of Ms Mordaunt insisted she was offered a slight promotion but declined. Mr Sunak assembled a gang of male greybeards to help him tackle the economic and political turmoil…” – The Sun
Mr Sunak spoke with Mr Biden over the phone this evening, in their first official meeting since Mr Sunak became Prime Minister earlier today. During the call, President Biden confirmed that “the UK remains America’s closest ally”, with Mr Sunak agreeing on the “huge strength of the relationship”. The two leaders said they “look forward to working closely together.” A Downing Street spokesperson said the two world leaders “discussed the extent of UK-US cooperation, both bilaterally and in regions such as the Indo-Pacific where the AUKUS pact forms part of our efforts to enhance stability and counter China’s malign influence…The Prime Minister and President Biden also agreed on the need to ensure the people of Northern Ireland have security and prosperity…” – Daily Express
“Rishi Sunak will “stand firm” against Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to break up Britain, Douglas Ross has said after holding talks with the new Prime Minister…[The] Scottish Tory leader said voters could be “confident” the new Prime Minister will refuse to give in to Ms Sturgeon’s “divisive agenda”. He said they could trust Mr Sunak to “act in the interests of every corner of the UK” and pledged he would “put Scotland and the whole of the UK on a solid footing going forward”. His intervention came after he held discussions with Mr Sunak on Tuesday evening over “his plans for the United Kingdom as we navigate the difficult times our country faces”. Mr Ross took to Twitter to urge the Scottish Government to “work constructively” with the new Prime Minister…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak is considering a delay to next week’s planned statement setting out how the government will close a £40 billion black hole in the country’s finances, The Times understands. The prime minister is expected to meet Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, today to discuss his proposals to increase taxes and squeeze public spending that are due to be unveiled to MPs and markets on Monday, which is Halloween. But amid concerns that the plans will define his premiership, Sunak is considering postponing the update until next month to allow more time to scrutinise the options. The statement had been brought forward by the previous government from November 23 because of the market reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.” – The Times
“Liz Truss yesterday insisted she had been right to be “bold” when she bowed out of Downing Street with an unrepentant message that attempted to justify her short time and her record at the head of the government. She said her seven weeks in power had left her “more convinced than ever” that the UK could not be “a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth”. Truss made no apology for her mini-budget, most of the key elements of which have since been reversed, and mentioned her successor, Rishi Sunak, only in passing. Instead she urged the government to “do things differently” and issued a veiled warning to Sunak not to cut defence spending. “We must continue to strengthen our nation’s defences,” she said.” – The Times
“The former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg launched a scathing attack on opponents of legislation he has tabled to sweep away EU law, telling them they are fighting a Brexit battle all over again. Rees-Mogg quit his role after Rishi Sunak became prime minister, and less than two hours later returned to the backbenches to see a stand-in, the business minister Dean Russell, opening the second reading of the retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill. Rees-Mogg told MPs the proposals were aimed at “restoring parliamentary sovereignty” and helping remove rules and regulations that supposedly put business under pressure.In an extraordinary backbench spat, he accused a fellow Conservative MP of never accepting the result of Brexit…” – The Guardian
“Labour has a stock of well-honed attack lines to use against Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer told his shadow cabinet on Tuesday, though he warned the new prime minister was likely to get “a significant poll bounce”….Starmer told the meeting Sunak “has only ever fought one leadership election battle his entire life and got thrashed by Liz Truss. And no wonder he doesn’t want to fight a general election”. The Labour leader said it was a moment of pride for Sunak to be the first British Asian prime minister, but said the party had three messages to keep in mind: the Tories had put their “party first, country second”, the government planned to make working people pay for their mistakes and MPs and shadow ministers should “ignore the noise” if poll leads started to crumble.” – The Guardian
“Businesses, scientists and teachers would be involved in writing a new national curriculum and redesigning exams under a Labour plan to take the party politics out of education. A report from the Labour Skills Council, set up by Sir Keir Starmer and headed by the former education secretary Lord Blunkett, will today call for a National Curriculum Authority to be established that “draws in broad expertise for reshaping the curriculum, rethinking assessment and providing a modernised syllabus which is free from party political interference”. The independent body would take on board the views of employers as well as subject experts to ensure young people are better prepared for work. “We need a curriculum that can adapt and evolve as needs change,” the report says.” – The Times