RISHI Sunak has claimed the Tory party is now “united” despite months of bitter infighting and rebellion.

It came as one recent Tory cabinet minister criticised him for not going to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next month.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted: “The Prime Minister is WRONG not to go to COP. Global warming is the biggest crisis facing our planet and net zero creates many 1000s of jobs which is good for the economy. COP in Glasgow was most successful ever.”

During a visit to a hospital in south London, the Prime Minister was asked by reporters if the chaos of recent weeks was related to Brexit or whether there was a “civil war” within the Conservatives.

He 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.”

However tax hikes and spending cuts in the November 17 autumn statement are expected to anger many Tory MPs and activists 

Mr Sunak promised to put “fairness at the heart” of the “difficult decisions” needed to plug a multi-billion pound black hole in the nation’s finances.

On his first public visit since entering No10 on Tuesday, he told broadcasters at Croydon University Hospital: “I acknowledged that mistakes have been made and part of why I’m now Prime Minister is my job is to fix them – and I’m confident that we can.

“The Chancellor has already said of course difficult decisions are going to have to be made. And I’m going to sit down and work through those with him.

“But what I want everyone to know is that we need to do these things so that we can get our borrowing and debt back on a sustainable path.

“That’s important because it means that we can get a grip of inflation. 

“If we do that, it means we can limit as best as possible the increase in interest rates, which is important.

“But as we do that, I want people to be reassured, we will always do it with fairness at the heart, we will protect the most vulnerable and ensure that we can continue to grow the economy in the long run.”

The financial figures are not expected to be finalised until Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt receive the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

A Treasury source said: “Markets have calmed somewhat, but the picture remains grim. After borrowing and spending hundreds of billions of pounds due to Covid-19 and for energy bills support, there is a massive fiscal black hole to fill.

“People should not underestimate the scale of this challenge, or how tough the decisions will have to be. We’ve seen what happens when governments ignore this reality.”

On Monday, the pair delayed the financial statement by more than two weeks from Hallowe'en as public finances appeared in a worse shape after Liz Truss’s leadership.

Mr Hunt has sought the advice of George Osborne as he sounds out Conservative predecessors over his upcoming autumn budget.

A Treasury source said Mr Hunt met Mr Osborne, the architect of austerity in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, in Downing Street on Thursday.

Talks were also said to have been arranged with Kwasi Kwarteng, Mr Hunt’s predecessor, whose mini-budget sparked the financial turmoil that forced Ms Truss from office.

Sajid Javid and Lord Hammond were also expected to be consulted.

Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt have refused to commit to the triple lock on pensions, meaning millions could face real-terms cuts in April, as inflation soars past 10 per cent.

The pledge of defence spending increasing to 3% of GDP by 2030 is also under review.

Nor has Mr Sunak committed to Boris Johnson’s promise to raise benefits in line with inflation.

The Chancellor has pledged to get “debt falling over the medium term” and warned of “very, very difficult decisions” on tax and spending.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that many departmental spending budgets are still far below their 2010 levels in real terms, in some cases more than 25% lower, making further savings hard to come by.