Rishi Sunak has said “some mistakes were made”, but not out of “ill will or bad intentions”, during his first speech as Prime Minister.
He warned the nation is in a “profound economic crisis” and added that there are “difficult decisions to come”.
Speaking on the steps of Downing Street, behind a smaller lectern than his predecessor, Sunak said Truss was “not wrong” to want to deliver economic growth, but that the wrong course was taken in trying to do so.
“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,“ he continued.
“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.”
Sunak added: “The government I lead will not leave the next generation, your children and grandchildren, with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.
“I will unite our country, not with words, but with action; I will work day in and day out to deliver for you.”
Sunak, 42, is the UK’s first Hindu PM, the first of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years.
He was appointed by the King after Charles accepted the resignation of Truss after just 49 days in office, making her the shortest-serving leader in history.
Sunak pledged that his government will have “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” as he pledged to earn the trust of the British public.
He said he is “not daunted” by the task ahead as he stands “ready to lead our country into the future”, adding: “I fully appreciate how hard things are and I understand too that I have work to do to restore trust after all that has happened.”
Liz Truss’s failure to apologise for the economic turmoil that punctuated her premiership “beggars belief”, the SNP has said.
The former prime minister - whose tenure ended on Tuesday - made her final speech from Downing Street before handing in her resignation to the King.
Her time in Number 10 was marred by economic issues, some of which were caused by policy announcements such as unfunded tax cuts.
The Bank of England was forced to step in and buy up government bonds to steady the economy, while the International Monetary Fund was among the voices from around the world urging a rethink.
Truss u-turned on some of the tax measures, before sacking then chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and bringing in Jeremy Hunt, who axed the majority of her economic plans.
SNP Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald said: “It beggars belief that Liz Truss couldn’t bring herself to apologise - or utter a single word of regret - for the catastrophic damage she has done to the UK economy.
“Families are paying through their teeth for her mistakes as mortgage rates soar, pensions fall, energy bills rise, and inflation goes through the roof.
“Now we face devastating austerity cuts under Rishi Sunak – with families footing the bill for Tory failure.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party said it is time to “focus on the people’s priority” as he insisted Sunak is the “right man for the job”.
Craig Hoy told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme that there is “no point in going back over what happened in relation to the first leadership election”, and he feels Sunak is “the right choice to be Prime Minister at this point in time”.
It was put to Hoy that the Conservative Party “took us on a flight of fancy” in the last seven weeks.
He replied: “There’s no point going back over what happened in relation to the first leadership election.
“Liz Truss resigned, she did so swiftly, we had a very swift election selection process yesterday, and that now means that as of today we can start to focus on the people’s priority.“
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