UK PM Rishi Sunak warns of 'difficult decisions' in days to come

Rishi Sunak officially became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after he met King Charles III on Tuesday, October 25. In his first address to the nation as the prime minister — the third in two months — Sunak said he will "place economic stability at the heart of this government's agenda" and warned of "difficult decision" ahead.

"This morning I set out to Cabinet the enormous task we face, and why I am confident that this government can rise to the challenge and deliver for the whole United Kingdom," Sunak tweeted. "Now is the time to get to work and earn the trust of the British people," he wrote after the first Cabinet meeting.

Sunak unveiled his top team with key Cabinet appointments and decided to keep the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in place for economic stability and brought back Indian-origin Suella Braverman as home secretary. In another move aimed at continuity, James Cleverly will stay in his post as foreign secretary despite not being a Sunak loyalist.

Hunt stressed that economic stability and credibility were the essential foundations for all other policies. Cleverly then updated cabinet on the international situation and the continued threat posed by Russia's escalation of the war in Ukraine.

The UK government has delayed its budget by more than two weeks, buying Sunak some time to make difficult choices about how to tackle the country's economic crisis. Hunt will now deliver the government's medium-term fiscal plan on November 17, according to a statement from the Treasury. It had been scheduled for October 31, after the date was previously pulled forward by more than three weeks in a desperate attempt to reassure investors spooked by huge unfunded tax cuts promised by former Prime Minister Truss.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whose scathing resignation letter precipitated Liz Truss' exit from Downing Street last week, spoke about ongoing work to tackle illegal immigration, the BBC reported. Prime Minister Sunak said this was a complex and challenging issue but that the public rightly expected the government to find a "long-lasting solution."

Minister Without Portfolio Nadhim Zahawi told journalists the party was "very, very united" as he departed after the Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street.

Earlier, Sunak paid tribute to his predecessor Liz Truss and said she was not wrong in her policymaking. "She wanted to improve growth in this country and that I admire her restlessness to create change.... but mistakes were made," he said.

Sunak added that he has been made prime minister to fix these mistakes. "I will place economic stability and confidence at heart of this government's agenda," he said, adding: "This will mean difficult decisions to come."

Speaking about his party's mandate in 2019, he said, "The government I lead will not leave the next generation with a debt to settle... I will deliver a stronger National Health Service (NHS), better schools, safer streets, better environment...and our forces levelling up."

He hopes to restore trust, create jobs and embrace opportunities of Brexit.

Sunak became Britain's first non-white PM on Monday, days after Liz Truss resigned from the post. This was dubbed as "Barack Obama moment" for the UK by the leader of a Hindu temple that was set up by Sunak's grandfather, Ramdas Sunak, in 1971.

Sunak won the race to lead the Conservative Party on Monday after former PM Boris Johnson withdrew his candidature. His victory was marked as a historic moment in British social history.

Sunak, who describes himself as a proud Hindu, is the UK's first Prime Minister of South Asian heritage and the youngest in more than 200 years, at the age of 42.

Ahead of Sunak's official appointment as the UK PM, incumbent Truss chaired her final cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. She later formally tendered her resignation to King Charles III.

The change of guard in the UK came after days of economic crisis and political upheaval in the country, following a disastrous tax-cutting mini-budget and several policy U-turns.