Fresh calls in Northern Ireland for focus on the Protocol as Rishi Sunak vows to fix the 'mistakes' of Liz Truss' leadership

The freshly appointed Conservative leader warned the UK is facing a “profound economic crisis” in his first speech after being asked to form a Government by the King.

Over an hour after Ms Truss defended her botched economic strategy in her farewell speech from the Downing Street, Mr Sunak stood outside No 10 criticising her brief and chaotic tenure.

Mr Sunak said his predecessor, whose 49 days in office made her the shortest-lasting PM in history, was “not wrong” to want to drive up growth, describing it as a “noble aim”.

“But some mistakes were made. Not born of ill will or bad intentions – quite the opposite in fact. But mistakes nonetheless,” he added.

“I’ve been elected as leader of my party and your Prime Minister in part to fix them – and that work begins immediately.”In Northern Ireland, there were renewed calls for Mr Sunak to prioritise the Northern Ireland Protocol in a repeat of pleas earlier this week from the leaders of all three main unionist parties.

On Tuesday, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “If the new Prime Minister wants to see a fully functioning Stormont, then he will have to deal with the Protocol once and for all and put in place a long-term solution which recognises that progress is only made in Northern Ireland with the support of unionists and nationalists.”

He continued: “Northern Ireland can have a tremendous future if we are able to remove the Protocol debris and then restore the devolved administration in Stormont.

The Protocol is undermining every area of life and bedevilling progress. Whether it is medicine supplies being jeopardised or the 30% increase in haulage costs or infrastructure investment being more expensive due to a 25% tariff on steel, the Protocol has not worked.”

In the Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheal Martin sent his congratulations to his British counterpart, saying: “The close relationship between our two countries is built on shared history, deep cultural and economic ties, and strong people-to-people links.”

The Fianna Fail leader continued: “Our shared responsibility as joint stewards of the Good Friday Agreement, working together in partnership, is vital to support peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland, particularly now in the absence of a properly functioning Assembly and Executive.

“Building on work already under way, there is a real opportunity for the EU and UK to find jointly agreed solutions on the issues pertaining to the protocol, and I urge Prime Minister Sunak to move quickly to substantive engagement with the EU on that basis.

“I am committed to a strong and deep British-Irish relationship and I look forward to early engagement with Prime Minister Sunak on the important issues we face on these islands and globally.”

Mr Sunak, 42, became the UK’s first Hindu PM, the first of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years when he was appointed by Charles at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning.