The prime minister also tells Sky News he will "not be forced into making premature decisions" over HS2, despite heavy hints an announcement on the line's future could come on Wednesday.
Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby put it to the prime minister that he was a “man without a mandate” - having lost the Tory leadership election last year, before being appointed weeks later without a vote from members.
But when she was ousted after just 49 days in office, Mr Sunak was only selected by some of his party’s MPs, leading to accusations on the backbenches that it was “undemocratic” and a “coronation”.
But while Downing Street said officially that “no final decisions have been taken”, sources gave Sky News’ Mhari Aurora “the heaviest hint yet” an announcement would feature in the prime minister’s conference speech on Wednesday - and his remarks would be “worth waiting for”.
Questioned over whether he had made up his mind, Mr Sunak revealed nothing, dismissing “speculation” and adding: “I approach all these things carefully, thoughtfully, rigorously.”
But pressed multiple times over whether he had made the call to announce it tomorrow, the prime minister said: “I think it’s right that I’m not going to get forced into making premature decisions, not on something that’s so important that it costs this country tens of billions of pounds.”
He also denied that the conference had descended into chaos over the topic - as well as the return of Ms Truss and her calls for tax cuts - instead claiming Tory members had “a spring in their step” and “really support” his plans.
The original article contains 718 words, the summary contains 237 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby put it to the prime minister that he was a “man without a mandate” - having lost the Tory leadership election last year, before being appointed weeks later without a vote from members.
But when she was ousted after just 49 days in office, Mr Sunak was only selected by some of his party’s MPs, leading to accusations on the backbenches that it was “undemocratic” and a “coronation”.
But while Downing Street said officially that “no final decisions have been taken”, sources gave Sky News’ Mhari Aurora “the heaviest hint yet” an announcement would feature in the prime minister’s conference speech on Wednesday - and his remarks would be “worth waiting for”.
Questioned over whether he had made up his mind, Mr Sunak revealed nothing, dismissing “speculation” and adding: “I approach all these things carefully, thoughtfully, rigorously.”
But pressed multiple times over whether he had made the call to announce it tomorrow, the prime minister said: “I think it’s right that I’m not going to get forced into making premature decisions, not on something that’s so important that it costs this country tens of billions of pounds.”
He also denied that the conference had descended into chaos over the topic - as well as the return of Ms Truss and her calls for tax cuts - instead claiming Tory members had “a spring in their step” and “really support” his plans.
The original article contains 718 words, the summary contains 237 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!