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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

Schoolgirl asks Rishi Sunak how he can solve cost of living crisis as he's so rich

A schoolgirl asked Rishi Sunak if he knows how to solve the cost of living crisis as he's "so rich" in a TV interview.

The multi-millionaire Prime Minister was grilled about his wealth in a special programme to be screened on the Sky Kids channel on Friday.

He was asked about the deepening cost-of-living crisis, with one girl questioning the PM's suitability to help "struggling families" given his wealth.

Ruby, in Highgate, asks Mr Sunak: "It's been a tough winter for us all, but how do you know to help struggling families when you're so rich yourself?"

Mr Sunak responded that "the best way to judge people is not by what job they're doing or where they come from, it's about what they're actually doing, and I think you can judge me by my actions".

Mr Sunak told his young interviewers he is looking forward to seeing his "favourite popstar" - Katy Perry - perform at the King's coronation concert.

The PM is being investigated over his failure to tell MPs that his wife Akshata Murty had shares in a childcare company that benefitted from Budget measures (Getty Images)

The wide-ranging interview on Sky's FYI: Weekly News Show will also cover topics including rising prices and under-age vaping,

Asked about what the Government will do to stop under-age vaping, Mr Sunak will highlight the announcement of a new "illicit vapes squad" led by trading standards officials and aimed at cracking down on the sale of e-cigarettes to children.

"No one should be vaping under 18 and it's illegal to sell vapes to children," he says.

"These adverts for these things are designed to appeal to kids, with the colours they use, the characters they use - that's not right - their flavours."

The interview will be aired at the end of a difficult week for the PM.

Mr Sunak is facing an investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog over claims that he broke the MPs' code of conduct by not declaring as a financial interest a childcare firm his wife holds shares in, which benefitted from the Budget.

Akshata Murty held shares in Koru Kids as far back as March 2019, before Mr Sunak entered Downing Street as chancellor, according to documents lodged with Companies House.

The PM has been accused of a lack of transparency (Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock)

The PM is the wealthiest leader the country has ever had. He and his wife have a £730million fortune, more than twice that of the King.

The couple were criticised last year after it emerged Ms Murthy had used her non-dom status to avoid paying millions of pounds in UK tax.

Instead she paid taxes on foreign income in India.

The mega-rich pair were accused of being out of touch after having a luxury heated swimming pool installed at their Yorkshire mansion, despite an estimated 350 pools being forced to shut or reduce hours due to rising bills.

These include Tadcaster Swimming Pool, just a few miles from their Grade-II listed Manor, which they purchased for £1.5million before Mr Sunak became an MP in 2015.

Mr Sunak's team has said he transparently declared the shares as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons, and has followed the rules.

He was accused of a “complete lack of transparency” as his wife’s investments worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were kept secret.

The PM’s list of ministerial interests was finally published today after a probe was launched into whether he had broken the rules.

But the document did not include details of the shareholdings owned by his heiress wife, Akshata Murty.

Mr Sunak is under investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog over claims he broke the MPs' code of conduct by not declaring his wife owns shares in a childcare firm that was boosted by a key policy in the Budget.

The document published today failed to shed any new light on Ms Murty’s finances.

Under the section for relevant interests held by a spouse or close relative, Mr Sunak's entry included his wife's venture capital company Catamaran Ventures and unnamed "direct shareholdings".

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner added: “Rishi Sunak is failing to deliver the integrity he promised and has instead chosen to preserve the rotten standards regime of his predecessors.

There will be no accountability while the Prime Minister continues to mark his own homework on ethics.”

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