Rishi Sunak is tasked with steering the country through an economic crisis.
New Delhi:
Weeks after falling short in the UK prime minister race, Rishi Sunak became Britain’s youngest prime minister in more than 200 years on Monday amid a crisis-like situation in the country.
It is a remarkable return for Mr Sunak who lost a leadership bid to Liz Truss less than two months ago when he was accused by some in the Conservative Party of bringing down their hero, Boris Johnson.
Here’s a look at some controversies that have marred Mr Sunak.
‘No Working Class Friends’
In a BBC documentary series called ‘Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl’, a 21-year-old Mr Sunak talked about his friends. In the clipping from 2001, Mr Sunak said“I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper-class, I have friends who are, you know, working class.”
“Well, not working class,” he quickly corrected himself.
Proclaiming to be a man of the people, this clip drew Mr Sunak backlash from across the country.
Wife’s Non-Domicile Status
Mr Sunak is married to Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy.
It was reported this year that Akshata Murty paid 30,000 pounds a year to maintain her non-domicile status, which made her not liable for the UK’s tax laws on foreign income. She had to give up her non-domicile status after public outrage.
Russian ‘Blood Money’
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Sunak had urged British firms to stop investing in the country while praising companies like Shell and BP for pulling out.
Akshata Murty was, however, accused of collecting “blood money” in dividends from Infosys, which refused to stop operations in Russia.
“Every company has the choice to make, you can run the business as usual and make your money, but you have to live with the fact it’s bloody money, and bloody trade,” Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko had said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Bread Controversy
Mr Sunak on the BBC Breakfast show raised his concerns about the rising price of bread in the UK. When the presenter asked him what kind of bread did he prefer, Mr Sunak said“It’s a Hovis kind of seeded thing. We have a whole range of different – we all have different breads in my house, a degree of healthiness between my wife, myself and my kids.”
Responding to the widely publicised clip, the shadow food secretary Jim McMahon said, “Maybe if the Chancellor was struggling to afford a single loaf of bread like so many families are, he would have offered support to families yesterday.
“Instead, it appears the ‘continental breakfast’ Chancellor doesn’t understand the Tory cost of living crisis he’s presiding over.”
