To think Sunak should just own being rich?

[Nonspecificcheese]

Just that really - wouldn’t he be better off just saying “look I am very wealthy, I recognise that creates a barrier between me and ordinary people who are struggling, but I’m competent, I do care about people with less, and I have a great team of ministers and advisers with a range of diverse backgrounds and experiences”, rather than trying to pretend he’s a man of the people?

Of course, the statements after “but” would need to be true, and they probably aren’t. But surely there’s some value in being authentic rather than pretending you’re something you’re not?

He isn't competent. That's the crux of the problem. So the first statement after the 'but' really does pull the plug. Cameron and Johnson weren't either. Classic Peter Principle.

There's already a thread running on this. People are severely pissed off with him over this.

Oh no what has he done now?! He’s so tone deaf I can’t take him seriously

@Nonspecificcheese

It would have helped. A bit late now though.

he should never have been PM.

But it's not like they were blessed with better options.

We are British, we always find something to criticise. I'm not a fan of his, bit there is no winning

He sends his kids to private school 'he isn't in the real world, he is elitist etc'

Kier Starmer send his kids to outstanding state schools 'why is he using these excellent places when could afford private. He should give those yo someone who really needs them'

he believes he had a deprived childhood because his parents had to "sacrifice" having a sky tv subscription

He is rich.

But he wasn't bought up in the massive wealth he has now. More a middle/upper middle class upbringing.

So I think the idea he is completely detached from the reality of normal living is somewhat unfair.

A very real question is what good has he done with this wealth ?

Maybe it's more a question of whether it is actually his wealth to do good with ?

I'm sure that he would comfortably be a millionaire on his own, but it is his wife's family that appear to hold the serious wealth AFAICT.

That would work but the problem he doesn't care about people with less and that's obvious.

His being rich is a specifically a problem for him because the principle aim of the conservative party is to maintain and extend that privilege. So the two things add up. He's from a privileged class, he wants to serve the privileged class.

The Tories try to make themselves electable by distorting their political purpose and attempting to hide or downplay their membership of the privileged class

Eg we're not serving the rich and advantaged, we're actually about rewarding hard work, and you're hard working aren't you?

Or
I'm just an everyman like you I like to enjoy a pint sort of thing

These distortions are exposed by their posh private educations, utterly distinct social landscape (eg not knowing the price of common supermarket items) and vast personal wealth.

A politician belonging to a party with different aims wouldn't have to conceal those aims by pretending they're not from a privileged class / pretending they're not wealthy / expensively educated / whatever. They could own it as you say. These things might still be a problem but far less of a problem.

How doesn’t he own it?

He unashamedly lives a multi millionaire lifestyle.

Absolutely a hundred percent. We didn’t have sky TV 🙄 well boo hoo to you! I actually find it insulting when people say they value education so put their money into private school. I bloody value education, I’m a teacher but my kids don’t go to Eton OR have sky TV poor deprived things.

What's interesting is how in the States being rich appears to be something to be admired as an achievement and an asset whereas in the UK it seems to be something you should be ashamed of.

Sunak from what I can tell had a pretty solid middle class upbringing. Sure he wasn't starving or bought up in poverty but on the other hand he wasn't swanning around in private jets either.

His parents were a GP and a Pharmacist. Yes he went to private school. But I can understand how with two siblings affording that for all of the kids would have been hard work (if they did all go to private school) and might have involved some level of sacrifice on their part.

Shame the Monty Python team aren’t still around

”When we was kids we was so poor that one Christmas we couldn’t go to St Barts.”

”You think you had it hard? Me and my brother had to share our pony.One rode int Pony Club events and t’other had to ride around the estate ont quad bike.”

”Share a pony? Us kids had to share us skis. And poles, and goggles. We had to pretend we were American snowboarders from Colorado . How about you Rishi?”

“Well, actually, we were so poor we didn’t have Sky, which is why nowadays I fully understand how hard life is for ordinary people who aren’t millionaires and have to get their food delivered from a food bank or Waitrose instead of Fortnums.”

Good God just when you think he can’t get any worse…

Because he is not politically savvy. In fact he’s politically incompetent. He has no clue. That’s why he makes even Starmer look good.

Because this country has a little island mentality where the only way people feel good is by dragging others down, rather than pulling themselves up. People want handouts and equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity. Crabs in a bucket.

OP I think I agree with you

I'd be OK with him saying "I'm fortunate, I know that, but I want everyone to feel confident that they can afford to put food on the table, get good healthcare etc. And I can deliver that for the country"

Of course, this would only work if people actually believed him......

Crabs in a bucket is SUCH a good way of putting this

To be fair I do think most people want equality of opportunity. But the way many want to achieve it is by bringing down the privileged rather than helping the most disadvantaged. Even when evidence shows that approach harms everyone overall (eg wanting higher tax rates even if that means top earners move abroad and we lose their taxes/spending).

He doesn't care about people.
He cares so little that he can't be bothered to make the mental effort to think about what it might be like to be a homeless man and to realize that a homeless man is not going to be in business.
He's a pampered princeling with his head stuffed up his own arse.

He didn't say he was deprived at all. Funny how some people have such selective hearing.
He was asked about sacrifices his parents made growing up, things he went without. ONE example was sky TV. He said there were many things. Of course I doubt he was eating beans out of a can or anything, but honestly...there are plenty of people who would put Sky TV ahead of other priorities and that's their choice I guess.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying he should be ashamed of being wealthy. Good luck to him. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I’m just saying he should own it.

Son of a GP in the 90’s. He would have been better off than at least 90% of the population. Saying he went without is really blind to the realities of people on minimum wages.

What's interesting is how in the States being rich appears to be something to be admired as an achievement and an asset whereas in the UK it seems to be something you should be ashamed of.

I think that is changing slightly, as people cop on.

A lot (not all, but enough) of the rich in todays society are there not because they built a better mousetrap, but because their ancestors had enough wealth to back someone who did build a better mousetrap and then devoted the rest of their living years to making sure they held onto as much of that wealth as possible.

Rinse and repeat.

No one got rich by hard work. Well, not their own.

If I was him then I would be very reluctant to acknowledge how rich I was. Like it or not, a significant proportion of this country's population don't like rich people because they are jealous. They don't care if you made your money curing cancer or solving some other problem for mankind, they don't think anybody should be richer than them. Rishi would be mad to not downplay his wealth.