Rishi Sunak is 'not from a privileged background at all', argues Matt Hancock

12 July 2022, 19:36

'Rishi Sunak is not from a privileged background at all', says Hancock

Rishi Sunak is an "absolutely standard" man who is not from a "privileged background at all", Matt Hancock has told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr.

The former health secretary, who is backing Mr Sunak's Tory leadership bid, said we should be "admiring of somebody who grew up in a pharmacy"'

"He's not of privileged background at all, absolutely standard," Mr Hancock said.

"I keep hearing that," said Andrew.

"He went to Winchester School, that's pretty privileged."

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Mr Hancock argued Mr Sunak got a scholarship to the school, which charges over £45,000 per year for boarding pupils.

"He got a scholarship to Winchester School and he got to Oxford on his own merit," said the MP.

Andrew argued: "I'm sorry, Winchester and Oxford, however clever he was, is not an underprivileged background."

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"I didn't say that," said Mr Hancock.

"But he got there on a scholarship and he got to Oxford on merit.

"He's an extremely bright chap.

"And then he became a successful businessman.

"In the Tory party we think making a success of your life is a good thing, not a bad thing."

Andrew Marr challenges Hancock on Sunak's economic plans

Mr Sunak is one of eight Tory MPs who won the backing of 20 Tory MPs in time to make it through the first stage of the leadership contest on Tuesday night.

Explaining why he backed the former chancellor, Mr Hancock said: "He is a credible chancellor, will be a credible prime minister, and he knows that economic responsibility needs to come first especially in a time of high inflation."

He went on: "One of the reasons I backed him is because he put economic responsibility at the core of our proposals, at the core of his proposals.

"And I think that is frankly where the party is, and it's where the country is because it's the right thing to tackle inflation.

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"There's a whole generation of political leaders now who have never faced inflation at 10 per cent, in fact senior people right across Whitehall haven't.

"And we have to take it very, very seriously."

He said it was "totally reasonable" to tackle inflation before reducing the tax burden.

"He hasn't said the thing that sounds like what people want to hear," he said, adding that he didn't actually "think it is what people want to hear".

"It's what sounds easy to say, but the hard thing to say is 'we will do this responsibly'."

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