Rishi Sunak has been confronted by an NHS patient who urged him to “try harder” on nurses’ pay, during his first public visit as prime minister, to a hospital in Croydon.
“It’s a pity you don’t pay them more,” Catherine Poole, a 77-year-old recovering from surgery, told the PM as he spoke at her bedside, later dodging a question from broadcasters on whether he was happy that nurses – thousands of whom are balloting on industrial action – are not getting a real-term increase in pay.
Mr Sunak also ditched a Tory leadership campaign pledge to fine patients who miss GP and hospital appointments, backtracking on plans health leaders had warned would “make matters worse”.
He pledged to put “fairness at the heart” of the “difficult decisions” he will take to “fix” the economic “mistakes” made by his party, and insisted it was “right” for him to focus on “depressing” domestic challenges, denying accusations of a “massive failure of climate leadership” by opting not to attend the Cop27 summit.
Rishi Sunak says he has no regrets over reappointment of Suella Braverman
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has more on Rishi Sunak’s comments insisting he has no regrets over re-appointing Suella Braverman as home secretary just six days after she resigned over a security breach.
Asked during a visit to Croydon University Hospital whether he regretted the appointment, he told broadcasters: “No, as I have said, she’s accepted her mistake and learned from it, and I’m confident of that.”
“The home secretary has acknowledged the mistake, she’s recognised she made a mistake, she’s taken accountability for that and that’s the right thing.
“Now, as I said in Parliament earlier this week, she raised this topic with me when I discussed reappointing her as home secretary and I’m confident that she’s learned from her mistake.”
Bank of England expected to confirm biggest interest rate hike in 33 years
The Bank of England is poised to unveil the biggest hike in interest rates for 33 years next week as the central bank continues its efforts to tame inflation, Henry Saker-Clark reports.
The key Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting comes amid warnings that spending cuts and tax hikes under new prime minister Rishi Sunak could lead to a deeper and more enduring recession.
Most economists think that the MPC is likely to rise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points to 3 per cent at the meeting on Thursday, 3 November.
It will be the eighth consecutive jump in interest rates by the Bank but will represent the biggest increase since 1989.
Exclusive: Conservative Party receives £3.6 million from hedge fund tycoons and finance firms
A hedge fund tycoon who hosted Kwasi Kwarteng for a champagne party hours after last month’s mini-Budget is among scores of wealthy financiers and City firms who have donated more than £3.6m to the Conservative Party this year, new analysis by The Independent reveals.
My colleague Matt Mathers reports:
Sunak dodges question over nurses’ pay
Rishi Sunak dodged a question from broadcasters over nurses’ pay after being confronted by a patient over the matter during his visit to Croydon University Hospital today.
Asked later by reporters if he was happy that nurses are not getting a real-term increase in pay, amid fears of industrial action, Mr Sunak said: “It is brilliant to be here at Croydon Hospital, to see the great work of the doctors and nurses here.
“One of the priorities for my government is going to be tackling the Covid backlogs and supporting the NHS. We face lots of challenges as a country, but I am confident that we can fix the economy and deliver on the promise of the 2019 manifesto, including having a stronger NHS.”
‘Our son is London’s PM’: Rishi Sunak’s Indian cousins kickstart celebrations in Punjab
For Rishi Sunak’s Indian cousins and uncle, who live in Ludhiana, it has been a hectic week of explaining the family tree that connects them to the first “truly Hindu son of their soil” who has just entered Downing Street.
The family is ecstatic at becoming mini-celebrities in India. They have also been asked to throw a grand celebration in Jassowal village, where Mr Sunak’s grandfather was born.
“We will be inviting a lot of local politicians and all family members,” Mr Sunak’s cousin Subhash Berry told my colleague Arpan Rai during an interview this week in Ludhiana:
No 10 says music in Sunak’s new promotional video ‘is certainly not Gary Glitter’
The music used in a glitzy (and costly?) new video promoting Rishi Sunak in his first week as prime minister is “certainly not Gary Glitter”, No 10 has said.
Following the video’s publication, Twitter users began to question whether the music is from the debut single of the convicted paedophile, who was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls, charges he denied.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “I’ve been reliably informed it is stock music – it is certainly not Gary Glitter.”
Sunak insists he is ‘confident that our party is ‘united’
Rishi Sunak has insisted that the Conservatives are “united” as he comes towards the end of his first week as prime minister, following fears in the days prior to his effective coronation that his party could be torn asunder by infighting.
Asked by reporters whether the instability of recent weeks has anything to do with Brexit or whether there was an ongoing “civil war” within the Conservatives, Mr Sunak said: “I am confident that our party is united. It is united behind delivering on the promise of the manifesto that we were elected on, with very strong support, in 2019.
“What does that manifesto say? It says we want to have a stronger NHS, that we want safer streets, that we want better schools, that we want to protect our borders and that we want to level up the economy across our country.
“That is what unites and excites all Conservatives, that is what excites me, and that is what I want to deliver for the people of this country.”
‘A pity you don’t pay them more’: Sunak confronted by NHS patient over nurses’ wages
Rishi Sunak has been confronted by an NHS hospital patient during his first public visit as prime minister.
Catherine Poole, a 77-year-old patient who is recovering from surgery, challenged the PM over falling real-terms nurses’ pay, telling him: “You need to pay them.”
When Mr Sunak said his government was trying,” she told him: “You are not trying, you need to try harder.”
PM denies missing climate talks is ‘leadership failure’
The prime minister denied his absence at Cop27 was a failure of leadership, arguing it was right for him to focus on economic challenges at home.
He said he was “really proud” of the UK’s record on tackling climate change, adding: “The leadership we have shown on the climate is unmatched almost along the world.”
He added: “It’s important to me that as Prime Minister we leave behind an environment that is better for our children and grandchildren. I’m very passionate about that. I’m very personally committed to it.
“I just think, at the moment, it’s right that I’m also focusing on the depressing domestic challenges we have with the economy. I think that’s what people watching would reasonably expect me to be doing as well.”
Sunak does not deny he was warned over Braverman job
Rishi Sunak has declined to deny suggestions that officials warned him against reappointing Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and said she raised the issue with him before he gave her the job.
Asked about the reports while at Croydon University Hospital, the Prime Minister said: “The Home Secretary has acknowledged the mistake, she’s recognised she made a mistake, she’s taken accountability for that and that’s the right thing.
“Now, as I said in Parliament earlier this week, she raised this topic with me when I discussed reappointing her as Home Secretary and I’m confident that she’s learned from her mistake.”
He insisted he did not regret the appointment, saying: “No, as I have said, she’s accepted her mistake and learned from it, and I’m confident of that.”
