Sunak was asked what his family had to sacrifice when he was growing up
Rishi Sunak said he ‘went without’ Sky TV as a child as an example of the sacrifices he had to make, in an excruciating interview moment that further threw into question his ability to understand the day-to-day struggles of the public.
Snippets of the interview Sunak so fatefully left the D-Day events in Normandy for have been released, and in one part Sunak is confronted with his vast wealth and asked how he can possibly stay in-touch with the struggles ordinary people face.
ITV interviewer Paul Brand asked whether the Conservative leader had ever gone without anything, to which Sunak said he had gone without “lots of things”.
“My family emigrated here with very little and that’s how I was raised, I was raised with the value of hardwork,” said Sunak.
When pushed on what he had gone without as a child Sunak repeated “lots of things” and added “my parents wanted to put everything into our education and that was a priority”.
Rishi Sunak attended the prestigious Winchester College, which today would set you back £45,934 a year for boarding and £33,990 a year for day pupils.
Pushed further on what exactly he had had to sacrifice as a kid, Sunak again said again “lots of things”.
The Prime Minister went on: “All sorts of things, like lots of people there will be all sorts of things that I would have wanted as a kid and couldn’t have, famously Sky TV, that’s something we never had as a kid actually.”
He added: “My experience is obviously going to be what my experience was and what’s more important is my values and how I was raised, and I was raised in a household where hard work was really important.. And family was important, service to your community was important.”
The response has been scathing, with social media users pointing out the tactless nature of his comments and accusing Sunak of being extremely out-of-touch. Others highlighted the scale of child poverty in the UK right now and the record levels of food bank users under his governments tenure, adding insult to his words.
Author Nick Pettigrew said on X: “I remember in my first week of uni, talking about my childhood poverty (meaning food parcels & hiding from the rent man) & somebody said they were once so poor as a kid they had to give up horse riding lessons. This is very much that.”
Another writer wrote on X: “Cute, as a direct result of the government you were a part of I went without a home for several years.”
One social media user said: “Why do they pretend that their upbringing was worse than it was! We see right through you! A more compassionate answer would’ve been ‘look, my parents worked hard & I was fortunate to have a warm house & food on the table & I want to make sure every child in the UK has that too’.”
Founder of Bylines Network, Mike Galsworthy, commented: “He didn’t see the obvious trap coming, walked right into it – and oh dear.
“Feigning that he’s been one of the children in this country who really suffered, because he went without Sky TV, is not just a faux pas – it’s offensive.”
Another wrote: “Where’s my violin.”
The full ITV interview will air at 7pm tonight.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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