Rishi Sunak news – live: Suella Braverman has learnt from her mistakes, PM insists

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:

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.”

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:

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

Rishi Sunak has dodged a question about nurses’ pay during a visit to a hospital.

Asked whether he was happy that nurses were not getting a real-term increase in pay, amid fears of industrial action, he 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.”