Video of young Rishi Sunak saying he has ‘no working class’ friends in BBC documentary about the middle class goes viral as clip of beaming Tory leadership contender in his early 20s is viewed over 2.5million times
- Clip of a young Rishi Sunak saying he has ‘no working class friends’ went viral
- Sunak was filmed for BBC series ‘Middle Classes: Their Rise & Sprawl’ in 2001
- Appearing in his final year at University of Oxford, Sunak described his world
- Despite the widely mocked clip, Sunak is still leading in his Tory leadership bid
A 20-year-old clip of a beaming young Rishi Sunak talking about his circle of friends being ‘err… not working class’ went viral on social media yesterday.
Sunak, 42, one of the lead contenders for the Tory leadership race, was interviewed by the BBC for the series ‘Middle Classes: Their Rise & Sprawl’ in 2001.
Appearing on the documentary as a prodigious student in his final year at the University of Oxford, Sunak described his world.
‘I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are, you know, working class, but… well, not working class.
‘But I mix and match and I go to see kids from an inner city state school and tell them to apply to Oxford and talk to them about people like me.
‘And then I shock them at the end of challenging them for half an hour and tell them I was at Winchester, and my best friend is from Eton or whatever, and then they’re like, “oh okay.”‘
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak, 42, is currently the lead candidate in the Tory leadership race with the highest number of MPs backing his campaign
VelvickChris posted: ‘Hi Rishi Sunak, have you got any working class friends yet? If not, try renting a few for your leadership campaign’
Chops8592 tweeted: ‘Imagine being that rich you have to distinguish between aristocrats and upper class loooool. Mad that Rishi Sunak can say this out loud…’
Several downloads of the clip have attracted millions of views on Twitter, with one scoring 2.5million hits alone.
And commentary about the former Chancellor of the Exchequer has been swift.
Chops8592 tweeted: ‘Imagine being that rich you have to distinguish between aristocrats and upper class loooool. Mad that Rishi Sunak can say this out loud…’
‘He’s so far removed from the general public, he should never become PM,’ tweeted Common_Sense_71.
VelvickChris added: ‘Hi Rishi Sunak, have you got any working class friends yet? If not, try renting a few for your leadership campaign.’
Journalist Basit Mahmood tweeted: ‘Remember that most working class kids from ethnic minority backgrounds don’t go to Winchester or prep schools.’
‘He’s so far removed from the general public, he should never become PM,’ tweeted Common_Sense_71
Journalist Basit Mahmood tweeted: ‘Remember that most working class kids from ethnic minority backgrounds don’t go to Winchester or prep schools’
Eight Tories have so far put themselves forward to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, just days after a collapse in party support forced his resignation.
Former health secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid have both pledged to slash corporation tax as they announced separate bids for the Tory leadership.
It comes after two serving Cabinet ministers, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, revealed their intention to run for the top job in the space of an hour.
Declaring their candidacies in The Telegraph, Mr Hunt and Mr Javid both said they would not only scrap the former chancellor’s plans to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April, but reduce the rate to 15%.
Mr Hunt also attempted to differentiate himself from the crowded field with a pitch based on his decision to stay on the backbench while Boris Johnson was at the helm of the Government.
Mr Zahawi, Rishi Sunak’s successor, had said earlier this week that ‘everything is on the table’ when questioned over the corporation tax rise.
The leadership contenders’ timescales for the change are different, with Mr Hunt slashing the tax to 15p in his first autumn Budget, while Mr Javid would set a ‘glide path’.
Jeremy Hunt also attempted to differentiate himself from the crowded field with a pitch based on his decision to stay on the backbench while Boris Johnson was at the helm of the Government
Mr Javid also said he would scrap the Government’s controversial national insurance hike, bring forward the planned 1p income tax cut to next year, and introduce a further ‘significant’ temporary reduction on fuel duty.
The pair spelled out their economic plans in separate interviews with the newspaper.
In addition to cutting corporation tax, Mr Hunt said he would remove business rates for five years for the communities most in need.
Most of those areas are in the so-called ‘Red Wall’ of traditional Labour heartlands, the newspaper said, with a quarter of locations in England and Wales in line for the tax break.
Scotland and Northern Ireland would get money to match the policy.
‘What matters is wealth creation, which means that people don’t feel that they need to leave a Bolton or a Bolsover because they can get better jobs in Manchester or London. They can actually stay there,’ Mr Hunt said.
‘That means helping them have opportunities at home that makes talented people want to stay, not go.’
Meanwhile, he pledged to continue pushing legislation to overwrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol through Parliament.
Sajid Javid (left) said his plan for the economy would cover both short-term measures – including a new package of support worth up to £5 billion to help with energy bills – and a ‘longer-term’ vision for tax reform
Mr Javid said his plan for the economy would cover both short-term measures – including a new package of support worth up to £5 billion to help with energy bills – and a ‘longer-term’ vision for tax reform.
He said: ‘The Government can’t prevent the impact of high price rises on everyone. You can’t mitigate everything.
‘The long way out of this, the better way, is to turbo growth. I’ve always believed in free markets, in low taxation, in light regulation, as the conditions that are necessary for growth.
‘It was true 20 to 30 years ago, it was true under Margaret Thatcher, and it’s true now, because it’s how economies grow and how they work.’
Earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that after ‘careful consideration’ and discussion with colleagues and family, he would not stand to be party leader and the next prime minister.
In addition to Mr Hunt, Mr Javid, Mr Zahawi, Mr Shapps and Mr Sunak, Attorney General Suella Braverman, ex-minister Kemi Badenoch and senior Tory Tom Tugendhat have launched their own bids.
Tory leadership candidate Suella Braverman has pledged to ‘move heaven and earth to get this country back on track’, writing that her views on Brexit are ‘as much a part of me as my DNA’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also widely expected to stand, with the Mail on Sunday reporting she will seek to advocate ‘classic Conservative principles’, and could declare her candidature as soon as Monday.
Another potential front-runner is trade minister Penny Mordaunt.
Ms Mordaunt has heavily suggested she will throw her hat in the ring, sharing an article on Saturday night from Dr Gerard Lyons, Mr Johnson’s former chief economic adviser as London mayor, which states she would make a ‘great prime minister’.
She also pushed back against those who may want to depict her as ‘woke’ in a Twitter thread early on Sunday morning, as she sought to clarify how she would define a woman.
It was reported on Saturday that Mr Johnson intends to stand down as Prime Minister on Monday in order to run again for Tory leader.
But this suggestion was knocked down by a spokesperson for Mr Johnson as completely untrue.
Grant Shapps said he wants to rebuild the economy so it is the biggest in Europe by 2050, and address the cost-of-living crisis
Tory MP Mark Francois has said he believes at least 12 people will put their names forward.
He told GB News: ‘It looks like this is going to be the Grand National but without the fences, so we are probably heading for at least a dozen candidates at the moment.’
Launching his campaign, Mr Zahawi pledged to lower taxes for individuals, families and business, boost defence spending, and continue with education reforms that he started in his previous role.
Mr Shapps said he wants to rebuild the economy so it is the biggest in Europe by 2050, and address the cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Badenoch announced a plan for a smaller state and a Government ‘focused on the essentials’.
Mr Sunak launched his leadership bid with the message: ‘Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.’
Former minister Steve Baker has thrown his support behind Ms Braverman’s campaign, despite previously saying he was seriously considering putting himself forward for the top job.
The Attorney General has pledged to ‘move heaven and earth to get this country back on track’, writing in The Telegraph on Saturday that her views on Brexit are ‘as much a part of me as my DNA’, and advocating a reduction to planned tax hikes ‘that are putting off investment’.
As candidates have started to make their move, Tory MP Sir Charles Walker said it is incumbent on those running for leader that they ‘don’t knock lumps out of each other’.
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