FIRED-UP Rishi Sunak was roared on by Tory MPs yesterday as he hammered Sir Keir Starmer in their first PMQs bout.
On his first full day as PM, he wiped the floor with the Labour leader in the Commons as they clashed on the economy and cost of living crisis.
Rishi Sunak was roared on by Tory MPs as he hammered Sir Keir Starmer in their first PMQs bout
Sir Keir Starmer clashed with the new PM on the economy and cost of living crisis
Tory MPs cheered their new boss as he tore into his opposite number
He also announced important policy changes, including a re- instatement of the ban on fracking, during a session in which Sir Keir struggled to land a single blow.
Delighted Conservative MPs cheered their new boss as he tore into his opposite number after first making it clear that the UK faced an “enormous task” to balance the books in the months ahead.
He also upgraded next Monday’s mini Budget to a full-on affair next month while binning almost all of what remained of predecessor Liz Truss’ economic blueprint.
Officials hope that pushing back the date will buy time so spending cuts do not have to be as deep if, as expected, borrowing costs fall.
During their exchange, Sir Keir tried to make the PM squirm by alluding to footage from the summer showing then-Chancellor Mr Sunak promising more cash for “wealthy places” such as Tunbridge Wells.
Mr Sunak roared back: “I know the Right Honourable gentleman rarely leaves North London, but if he does, he will know that there are deprived areas in our rural communities and across the south.”
He added: “This government will relentlessly support them because we are a government that will deliver the people across the United Kingdom.”
Accusing Sir Keir of making wild promises in a desperate bid to win his own leadership race, he blasted: “Leadership is not selling fairy tales.
“It’s confronting challenges and that’s the leadership the British people will get from this government.”
Mr Sunak was forced on to a sticky wicket when he was quizzed as to why he had reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary just six days after she was sacked for accidentally leaking official documents from her personal phone.
Sir Keir claimed the PM had done a “grubby deal trading national security” by offering Ms Braverman her job back in exchange for support.
Mr Sunak insisted that his Home Secretary had accepted her “error of judgment” before turning the tables on the Labour leader by reminding him of his fevered support for disastrous ex-chief Jeremy Corbyn.
The PM blasted: “He wanted to abolish the nuclear deterrent, leave Nato and scrap our armed forces.
“We won’t take any lectures on national security.”
Sir Keir also taunted Mr Sunak for losing the summer leadership contest to Ms Truss “who was beaten by a lettuce” and intensified his calls for a general election.
In a reference to the Brexit referendum, slick Mr Sunak told the once staunch Remainer: “It’s a bit rich coming from the person who tried to overturn the biggest democratic vote in our country’s history.”
After weeks of watching struggling Ms Truss forced on to the ropes, Tory MPs relished a leader sticking it back to Labour.
They shouted their approval as the PM accused the Opposition of “backing the lunatic protesting fringe” who have been stopping hard-working Brits getting to work.
At one point Speaker Lindsay Hoyle ticked off one Tory backbencher for banging the historic Commons furniture too hard.
Earlier, Mr Sunak told his Cabinet that economic credibility must be the government’s overriding mission.
He said his predecessor’s decision to rip up the moratorium on fracking had to go, saying he wanted to keep to the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto pledge.
His press secretary said it was still Mr Sunak’s “ambition” to cut taxes, the only flicker remaining of Ms Truss’ economic vision.
Mr Sunak previously promised to cut income tax from 20p to 16p by 2029, but is not committing to it now given the economic situation.
Last night Mr Sunak was cracking on with reshuffling the lower ministerial ranks, with arch-Boris Johnson supporter James Duddridge the first casualty.
Defence Minister Alec Shelbrooke and Transport Minister Kevin Foster followed suit as the PM works to get more women into Cabinet.
It also emerged Mr Sunak will return to live in Downing Street, in the same No.10 flat he used when Chancellor.
There are no plans to redecorate, Downing Street said.
His wife and two daughters may split their time between Westminster and the family’s West London home.
Mr Hunt plans to move to that flat at No.11 Downing Street with his wife and three children.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome, 26, was ordered by her party’s enforcers to delete a tweet about Rishi Sunak in which she said it was not “a win for Asian representation” to have him as PM.
Rishi’s new cabinet
RISHI Sunak’s new Cabinet pose for pictures yesterday — as Downing Street was forced to deny the new Prime Minister had a “woman problem” over a dearth of females around the top table.
The 31-strong team were snapped for the first time under the new PM.
Just one in five ministers in Rishi Sunak’s new Cabinet are women
Just one in five are women — but all of them are in senior roles meaning they attend as “full” Cabinet ministers.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary insisted: “I think this is a Cabinet with a significant range of experience and diverse range of experience, focused on delivering for the priorities of the public.”
More women are expected to be promoted to the lower ministerial ranks in the next half of his reshuffle.
