AIBU to not be remotely bothered that Rishi has private healthcare

[MXVIT]

I'm really not - it's an absolutely ridiculous thing for us to be getting worked up about.

He's the prime minister - of course he has private healthcare. Leaders of the country need to be fit and well and therefore need the best healthcare money can buy - we can all agree the NHS is not that - and thats a separate conversation.

By that logic lets ban all childless babysitters, all dogless dogwalkers.

Honestly as a country I feel we're that addicted to getting ourselves into a frenzy over everything that we're focussing on the wrong things.

The narrative of "the poorest of society don't have this - so NO ONE CAN" is getting more and more common lately.

the outcry about it just sums it up
pe slagging him off because he has it
if he didn’t he’d be slagged off for not going private because he can afford it

no win situation

It's not about which "bits of information" he puts out.

When you want to be PM, you don't really have control over what information gets out. Pretty much everything is fair game. People want to understand the person they're voting for, on every level. That's why we discuss what schools Dianne Abbott's children go to. That's why papers speak extensively about the tax arrangements, salaries and extra earnings of politicians.

In this context, avoiding a question about your health provision comes across as evasive. To many people it makes Sunak look untrustworthy. That's the basic truth.

‘Jealousy’ is such a childish response. It’s not jealousy, and personally, like many others I couldn’t give a toss if he can afford and chooses to use private health care.
What I do care about is the fact, when asked a direct question the response is ‘it isn’t in the public interest to have that information’ when what they actually really mean is ‘it isn’t in my interests for the public to know that about me’.
The voting public absolutely do have a vested interest in knowing whether the leader of the government (or any of their elected representatives for that matter) are having to struggle with accessing and navigating the same broken NHS system that they are or whether their personal wealth is insulating them from that.

It does matter.
It would matter in business too. If you don't have faith in what you are responsible for running then it's pretty damning.

It also speaks to the elitism that underpins British society.

Obviously a non-answer will be interepreted as yes, but it has the offseting benefit of highlighting that the journalist is being a dick.

yeh if he can get journalists to stop being utter nobs as part of it all I’ll take that. The level is plummeting and public with it.

I would think it weird if someone with his wealth didn't use private healthcare. He would be insane.

Yes but enough keep voting for them to have them in power well past their sell by dates.

How is a journalist asking about health provision being an "utter nob"?

Would they be an utter knob to ask what school Diane Abbott's children attend?

Sounds like some people want politicians wrapping in cotton wool, bless them.

@MaryMcCarthy According to some on this post no journalist should ask a Prime Minister any "hard" questions. Instead they should just be asking - tell us all about your wonderful new policies.

Yes I get this is popular with some.

Journalism is dire atm. They probably miss Covid and partygate and keep rustling up non stories.

I get what you mean but we seem to turn a blind eye to EVERYTHING hence why we're in the state we're in.

For what it's worth, if Sunak was ill and incapacitated for a while his loss wouldn't be felt by many.

If a healthcare worker was ill, it would have much more of a knock on effect on the people in their care. Many people in this position can't afford private health care, nor are they allowed to complain about it under Sunak's new proposals.

What's all this nonsense about people who go private taking the strain off the NHS?

Healthcare is being rationed in the UK because it has been chronically underfunded for the last 20 years or more. Private healthcare means rationing by price - those who can afford a private GP, ambulance or Consultant get seen immediately and those without can join the queue and hope.

Until the likes of Sunak and Hunt are forced to wait 18 hours for an ambulance, or sit with their granny in A&E for days (assuming that she's not still in an ambulance in the car park) or wait years for a vital operation, nothing will change. Currently the people in charge are totally immune from the impact of their decisions.

If an incident occurred on Westminster Bridge that caused the death of 50 people there would be outcry, angry headlines in the Mail and Express, COBRA meetings and a Ministerial broadcast. 300-500 people a week dying because of ambulance delays and A&E shortages - nobody bats an eyelid, and people even astroturf social media to defend the Conservatives.

"PM uses private healthcare" is a non-story.

"PM avoids questions" is something that people, understandably, care about.

So why wouldn't he just answer the question? Is private healthcare taboo?

This^
The problem is not that he has private healthcare, the problem is that he will not acknowledge the problems in the UK healthcare system, he is the man that supposed to to be in charge of running things for the benefit of the people!
The problem is that he clearly doesn't give a damn about the people and is only interested in helping wealthy people like him

Most people aren't upset about that. It's the fact that he doesn't give a straight and perfectly reasonable answer. It demonstrates a lack of confidence, poor communication skills, a tendency to evade/deceive, and overall poor judgement. It's shifty.

This. No one is actually surprised in the slightest that Rishi Sunak, a Billionaire, uses private healthcare. The problem is that this is the latest in a line of misguided attempts to fool the electorate into thinking he is a 'man of the people'. The petrol station photo op, that ridiculous McDonald's thing, asking a homeless man if he works in business. It's getting embarrassing now.

The reality if that when he talks of "making touch decisions" about our public services, he does so knowing that he and his family will never have to suffer the consequences of those decisions. The least he could do is be transparent and acknowledge that, instead of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. The continued to attempts to evade, deceive and manipulate are exhausting...we had enough of that under Johnson. It's a reminder that they are cut from the same cloth.

I don't care that he has private Healthcare.

I care that him using private Healthcare means he couldn't care less about the actual state of the NHS for us peasants.

He's a cunt. They all are.

I have private health

I care deeply for the NHS.

He avoids the question because he knows the public would be annoyed that he and his family never use the NHS.

Although after this I suspect there will be a "leaked" photo of Rishi or one of his family attending an NHS appointment.

@gigg Most people who go private have private health insurance which means private healthcare for some things and NHS for others. Rishi Sunak is richer than the King. He will be private with everything and Consultants will come to him. He won't even have to go to a private hospital unless it is to access large machinery like an MRI.
His private will look very different from your private.

Not an issue if you're content being a 2nd class citizen.

The people he needs to vote Tory are the sort of people who see private healthcare as aspirational, an achievement, something positive, an indicator that you've done well in life. It's something to respect.

Which makes his refusal to answer the question all the more puzzling.

Some people seem to have the idea this country is full of jealous plebs ready to jump on people who pay for their healthcare. It's really not like that.

Why are you singling out Muslims? He is not Muslim btw. 🙄

@MaryMcCarthy I think the just jealous comment shows the critical thinking level of a teenager. It is commonly alleged across a whole range of issues.

What?!! He isn’t even Muslim you racist

Exactly. So lets stop acting like teenagers and let's have politicians answering questions answered rather than avoiding them.