Rishi Sunak went without Sky TV so his parents could send him to private school

[number10bus]

Honestly this has really annoyed me, apart from the fact it's such crap - he came from a family where his parents were a GP and a pharmacist, it's like he's literally thought of the most working class stereotype and applied that. He's so out of touch and I don't know why this one has annoyed me so much but it really has.

I'm not much older than our prime minister and we didn't have one either, or holidays and not much in the way of any luxury items and guess what my parents couldn't afford to send me to private school despite them working very hard too.

Again, is daft and not clever. A mistake. I can forgive Rishi a mistake.

I can’t forgive his lack of awareness of his privilege and that he is so out of touch with people’s experience. He didn’t misspeak. He tried to sound like he knows what sacrifice is.

I saw the presenter badgering him for an answer. What exactly is he meant to say? The bottom line is he worked, studied, etc., to achieve what he has, regardless of his parents, etc. I mean, when we have examples like Alan Sugar and Richard Branson, why is it a race to the bottom? He worked, achieved, and became Prime Minister.

David Cameron gave a speech at Infosys on a trade mission in 2010 - that's the only connection I can find. Sunak didn't become an MP until 2015 anyway.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-10785734

And?

Make of it what you will.

Dh is calling me now - something to watch on Netflix. We don't have Sky either.

Surely the natural answer is to say that whilst his parents made a choice to prioritise spending on education over other luxuries, he recognises that his childhood was exceptionally privileged by any normal measure and that there is a huge difference between choosing "sky TV or public school" and choosing "heating or eating"

I think it's good for politicians and PMs to come from all walks of life, but if they are privileged they at least need to understand that privilege and have a curiosity to understand the lives of those who struggle

Do working class people visit your property to do working class jobs like cleaning and building ? Do you let them use your toilets and do you give them tea/coffee and biscuits ? Do you pay them in cash ? The people want to know.

could it be seen as rubbing it in, suggesting that he only achieved what he did because of his background. Surely it would be better to generalize by saying that he worked hard and studied. This way, it may encourage others by emphasizing that success is possible through dedication and effort, rather than implying that you can only become Prime Minister if you had a private education or similar advantages etc even if its true ?.

The express sound of a barrel being scraped.

It's awfully deceitful to deny your own privilege.

If he wants to inspire others he can give examples of people who have risen without privilege.

Yeah sure he worked hard but so do heaps of other people from every background.

I guess it depends on what people want to work towards and what they want to achieve. It also depends on their industry and their earning potential.

Rishi said that his parents came to this country with nothing. I don’t think it’s true as they later were able to afford private education for him.
And nothing wrong with them not being poor at the first place but why did he pretend otherwise?

What has he said that is 'accusatory of people who aren't loaded'? What has he accused them of?

My parents came to the UK with nothing from Africa and sent 4 of us private. We are now clinician/scientist, judge, fashion stylist and large charity CEO. Not sure what your point is. Migrants do well and his parents were well educated and entrepreneurial migrants with postgraduate qualifications in healthcare. Not sure why this is so incredulous to people - it is literally a common migrant story in the UK

Senior medics are supposed to be able to afford luxuries for their families whilst serving their communities

His parents already were well qualified with working experience. They did not come with nothing.

I can’t forgive his lack of awareness of his privilege and that he is so out of touch with people’s experience. He didn’t misspeak. He tried to sound like he knows what sacrifice is

No, he was trying to pander to the prejudice of ignorant voters who believe the poor of the UK are poor because of their own bad choices in life.

He is hinting heavily that they spend every penny they can lay their hands on, fail to budget, fail to prioritise their children's education, sit around watching expensive channels on huge TVs, and thus turn out yet another feckless generation of yobs and end up costing "the taxpayer" a fortune treating the illnesses brought on by their sedentary lifestyles.

He's playing to his own obnoxious gallery.

He's washing his hands and the Tory party's hands of any responsibility for food banks, the fact the NHS is on its knees, teachers are leaving education in droves, etc.

He probably put a bet on that the Tories would have less than 140 seats by 2025 and is going to make a packet.

The idea that Rishi's parents came here with nothing is hysterical, they are both the offspring of immigrants to East Africa, who there, held decent jobs/positions/status. On moving to the UK both Rishis parents had access to decent living conditions and quality education.

This is not a rags to riches story by any means.

And the idea that Rishi was somehow hard done to by not having Sky tv as a child is also hysterical, nor did I.. nor did pretty much anyone of our generation because Sky wasn't accessible to 98% of the population until dear Rishi was on the verge of heading off to college (mid to late 90s is when Sky became available across the entire UK and late 90s it started to be vaguely affordable for some. Prior to that you had to be extremely wealthy and a tv/comms nerd to get it, or live in Swindon..)

Money or lack of, was not the driving factor there, he'd have been pretty much an adult before it was widely available.

It’s part of the new “victim” narrative. Starmer’s dad wore clogs to a factory job don’t you know? Except maybe Starmer’s father owned an independent toolmaking firm and his grandfather actually owned and lived in a castle. Meghan Markle having been a white influencer most of her life is now a black woman whose parents could only afford “all you can eat” bars.

To be fair people sometimes like to believe their own myths, but this political victim narrative is tiresome and manipulative and pretty much irrelevant to the subject at hand - can you run the country? Yes or no.

Very true. The narrative that the poor are poor because they are feckless and lazy.

The rich are rich due to hard work and sacrifice.

Many ignorant people believe that. Unable to understand the multitude of reasons why life chances aren't the same for everyone.

I'm roughly Rishi's age and there were definitely people in our village with sky, but none of my private school friends had it that I can recall. A lot of them had swimming pools /ponies/ etc though so I don't think they were on the breadline

We only had a tiny black and white TV but we lived in a house with 10 (I think! ) large bedrooms and big gardens. My mum got the TV from our neighbour when they were going to chuck it out, I think she didn't see the point in spending money on TV as she didn't watch it herself

Extracting one thing you " went without" in order to claim you experienced sacrifice is disingenuous when by any other measure you had a decent stable life.

Point made. They came qualified from Africa. So did my parents. It is meant that they came without material wealth. Not without the knowledge and skills in their brain. Maybe that needs spelling out...🤔

I would not underestimate the racism and systemic barriers African immigrant faced moving to the UK (still occurs but possibly to a lesser degree) - particularly in the NHS.

They did well - came with degrees - but go and ask the thousands that needed to change their names to Westernised versions to fit in, or who got given the worst shifts and excluded and failed multiple exams clearly along colour lines.

Again, not a Rishi fan but as a child of an African migrant medic to the UK who has also done very well (albeit not billionaires) - their family's story is very similar not just to mine but to many others. Sky notwithstanding! Clearly gaffe prone campaign but his parents were clearly hardworking professionals who worked against systemic barriers to thrive here. Their indigenous counterparts would not have had the same burdens

basically society is how the general public or the majority of the general public choose to make it so to speak, thats if ive understood your post.

I will be visiting these pages to see how it all goes with KS.