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Keir Starmer, Labor Party leader
'A new Tory is in power.
But it's always the same with the Conservatives: first the party, then the country.«
One day in office and the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to face the opposition in the House of Commons.
Sunak's starting position could be better: His predecessor Liz Truss, to whom he had lost in the party's internal race for office, only lasted 50 days before she had to resign because of her very controversial economic policies.
Plenty of ammunition for the belligerent opposition.
Keir Starmer, Labor Party leader
'Yesterday on the steps of Downing Street he admitted what the whole country already knows: the Tories have destroyed the economy - and now someone is having to pay for their damage.
[...] The only time he actually stood for election was when he was beaten by the ex-prime minister, who in turn was beaten by a head of lettuce.
So why not take the test and let working people vote and call new elections?”
Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons
"It's going to take a long time if we keep going like this."
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Great Britain
"Mr.
speakers.
He talks about mandates, votes, elections.
That's a bit of a stretch for someone who wants to twist the largest democratic vote in this country's history.
Our mandate is based on an election that we won and they lost.
[...] I'm the first to admit that mistakes were made and that's why I'm standing here now.
And that's the difference between him and me.
This summer I have honestly named the difficulties that threaten us.
But when he ran for party leadership, he promised the party billions of pounds in new debt.
I said what serves the country, he told his party what they wanted to hear.
Leadership does not mean telling fairy tales.
It means facing challenges.
And that's what this government will do."
Rishi Sunak only needed the support of his faction in the lower house to become prime minister - which is also why the opposition is calling for new elections - and given the crisis in which the country finds itself.
Janet Daby, Labor MP
'My inbox is full of messages from people in my constituency telling about their desperate situation and wages that just aren't high enough.
I also get news about rising rents, rising energy prices, rising mortgages - and of course the already high cost of living.
This week the people in my constituency are writing to me demanding new elections.
I absolutely agree with them.
Can the Prime Minister tell me and the people in my constituency when there will be new elections?'
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Great Britain
»Mr.
Speaker, we've talked about this before.
I would say, as in the summer, inflation is of course the enemy.
It makes people poorer and reduces savings.
And so it becomes important for this administration to bring inflation down and support those who need it - as we are already doing.”
Another point of attack for the opposition: former finance minister Sunak is by far the richest member of parliament.
He and his wife, a British-Indian entrepreneur, own over 840 million euros.
Reason enough for Labor to call for a wealth tax.
Richard Burgon, Labor MP
'It would take a nurse for over 20,000 years to become as rich as the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister knows that. The Prime Minister knows only too well that the super-rich could simply pay more taxes.
So instead of more cuts, wouldn’t it be fairer to introduce a wealth tax on the wealthiest in our society?”
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Great Britain
»Mr.
Speaker, we will always support our hard working nurses.
That's why, as finance minister, I introduced better training and big wage increases.
But as I said, we face difficult decisions and we will deal with them fairly and compassionately because it corresponds to our values - and we will deliver."
An answer that is unlikely to satisfy the opposition - overall, Sunak did well on his first appearance as Prime Minister, but the substantive rifts between Tories and Labor remain.
At least the MPs agreed on one thing: Parliamentarians from all sides welcomed the fact that Sunak, Britain's first prime minister, is of British-Asian descent.