to not agree with people criticising sunak for the fact that his wife is richer than the queen

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

he is a tory,
he is not even labour

whether he and his wife are rich should not matter

@MrsLargeEmbodied

I don't believe starmer is your working class hero, I wouldn't call a nurse working class

Before you make another sweeping statement, you are aware that nursing hasn't always required a degree aren't you?

@MrsLargeEmbodied

Nurses are not working class, they are well qualified, working class to me would be a Manual labourer

Have you ever heard of the skilled working class?

What would you call a plumber, train driver, steelworker, crane operator, electrician? Are they all middle class too now?

Do you know many nurses? It is a really popular career choice for bright working class girls. Particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds. Easily combined with motherhood/family commitments, and stable employment.

The OP is pretty obviously goading tbh. They claimed not to know what type of school would be described as a 'private school' earlier.

@Octomore

The OP is pretty obviously goading tbh. They claimed not to know what type of school would be described as a 'private school' earlier.

Well darling, anything less than Eton is hardly worth mentioning is it?

No MP can be excused from understand the issues that face people in the UK. As a constituency MP they will be approached by constituents in dire situations. Some more than others, but every constituency will have at least pockets of deprivation. They will hear stories from women fleeing domestic violence with their children or families left with nothing while they wait for benefits to kick in. I can only assume that MPs stick their fingers in their ears and deliberately put those constituents out of their mind when they vote for things that will make their lives worse. Rishi Sunak is demonstrating this with a succession of PR disasters, but he's certainly not alone.

@MrsLargeEmbodied

starmer went to a grammar school and oxford

What wrong with a working class intelligent youngster attending grammar school, and going on to Oxford?

@Fridgeorflight

No MP can be excused from understand the issues that face people in the UK. As a constituency MP they will be approached by constituents in dire situations. Some more than others, but every constituency will have at least pockets of deprivation. They will hear stories from women fleeing domestic violence with their children or families left with nothing while they wait for benefits to kick in. I can only assume that MPs stick their fingers in their ears and deliberately put those constituents out of their mind when they vote for things that will make their lives worse. Rishi Sunak is demonstrating this with a succession of PR disasters, but he's certainly not alone.

This. Exactly right.

I do wonder how much the attitude of politicians would change if they truly knew the struggles of people in the UK when it comes to money, life chances, opportunities?

They can hear the stories. They might even listen. But how many have experienced it? How many of our decision makers have struggled?

What wrong with a working class intelligent youngster attending grammar school, and going on to Oxford?

Apparently they might “mix” with fee-paying children, instead of taking a job as a manual labourer.

They might even end up as a nurse! Know your place, poor people!

@MrsLargeEmbodied

Nurses are not working class, they are well qualified, working class to me would be a Manual labourer

You want to come to where I live and tell the people here they are not well qualified for the roles they do.....

This thread makes me sad because this is how they get away with it. Ignorance plus gaslighting and manipulative populism "his wife has nothing to do with his job" oh GOOD GRIEF

The OP seems unable to grasp that there is something of a difference in financial situation between being the child of a nurse and a toolmaker and going to grammar school and going to Winchester and marrying a billionaire.

Starmer clearly didn't learn much about biology and what a woman is despite going to a grammar school and university 🙄

@custardlover

This thread makes me sad because this is how they get away with it. Ignorance plus gaslighting and manipulative populism "his wife has nothing to do with his job" oh GOOD GRIEF

Yes, it's pretty depressing.

The problem is not his in-laws wealth, but his total lack of understanding of the financial difficulties the majority of families are facing. He is in a government that wasted billions on duff PPE, and has done nothing about getting refunds. He has allowed incredible fraud around the eat-out scheme. He has allowed cronies to apply for contracts worth millions with no accountability. Billions have been wasted by this man, and he does not even know how to swipe his card to pay for goods. That’s the problem with Sunak.

@SilverGlitterBaubles

YANBU the criticism was about the hypocrisy of the government's stance on Russia imposing sanctions while his wife still had significant business links there. They have obviously taken onboard the criticism because apparently her companies dealing with Russia is now ending. Also some serious questions need to be asked about the billions funnelled to private companies during Covid and things like bounce back loans that were widely abused due to lack of scrutiny and they have written off. We are now told there is no money when we need help most. So yes he deserves all the scrutiny because he has mismanaged public funds and now we are all suffering.

Absolutely agree with this.

Funny how a thread about Sunak gets turned into a thread about Starmer and brings up trans issues as well.

Sunak is very rich. Incredibly rich. I wonder if he has any understanding of the issues people - many of whom are his party's key potential voters are facing at the moment.

How can he?

@MrsLargeEmbodied

but why should his wife's riches make any difference?

i get there should be scrutiny if Russia are involved and the money is ill gotten gains -
he is the exchequer,
not his wife

They're a family. He's currently in California in one of his 11 houses for Easter. We're going through the worse cost of living crisis for years and it's clear he has no idea. He's going to lend us some of our own money that we have to pay back and he's cut fuel duty which has made zero difference. Tone Deaf.

THIS! Totally this. I was one of the people left to fall through the cracks. But the thing that I will never forget was the abhorrent way Sunak spoke about “us” (ie the millions of self employed people) as if we were all on the take. All trying to beat the system and now we’d got our comeuppance and he was going to come for us down the line.
Shone a light on him, as far as I’m concerned. His knee jerk reaction might be “try to avoid taxation” but it sure as hell isn’t everyone’s

The attitude towards the wasted billions during the pandemic - which is money we will have to pay back speaks volumes about someone (and a Government) who don't have to worry about spending money and are wasteful with it.

Who don't realise that there are people who are just about managing, who aren't seeing the increases to NMW as helpful as they are above NMW, who are in precarious jobs, who are struggling to pay rent and who didn't see their savings rise during the pandemic.

A lot of people are invisible to this Government.

(Sorry - I’m hopeless at this - that was in support of @SierpinskiSquare

Sure fine I don’t care that his wife is richer than the Queen. All is ask is that voters like you stay consistent too and don’t start turning yourself inside out with rage when the Russian-backed / Tory owned media triggers you into getting angrier about a serving Labour MP buying herself some sodding headphones to help her do her job than you would about billions going to Tory mates on dodgy PPE contracts - ‘they’re doing their best’. Lockdown parties - ‘we need to move on now’. What are these people doing for YOU, please tell me, because I don’t see it?

‘He’s not even Labour’ FFS.

Working class a manual labourer, where you from, the 1950’s? Majority of workers are working class, retail, distribution, transport, NHS, education, construction etc. Manual labourers are one tiny subset of the building industry. Middle Classes tend to be regarded as the professional workers, senior managers in schools, senior nurses, doctors, solicitors, accountants etc. However most people find that simplistic socio-economic division to be both outdated and offensive. We are all workers, even if we are self employed. There is a difference to what we earn based on qualifications or ability, but neither give us a class as such. You can view the wealth of celebrities or sportspersons as huge, does that make them middle class? You can’t buy class. Sunak has no class as he has no heart, whereas my refuse workers are so classy because they work professionally with great care.