The dust had settled a day after Rishi Sunak swept through a Sainsbury’s petrol forecourt in south east London as part of a publicity event for his spring statement.
While the chancellor of the exchequer was mocked on social media for posing for publicity pictures showing him pumping petrol into someone else’s Kia Rio – later telling staff that he hoped customers “would be a bit happier” with fuel duty coming down – it was the wider cost of living squeeze that was foremost in the minds of many passersby on Thursday.
