by - A video of Britain’s Prime Minister talking to a homeless man in a soup kitchen has gone viral.
- Sunak asked the man if he worked in the business or if it was something “he would like to get into”.
- The opposition party’s deputy leader said the video was “excruciating”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been criticized for a viral video of him speaking to a homeless man while volunteering at a soup kitchen on Friday.
The clip shows Sunak serving the man breakfast and talking to him. When asked if he agreed the shelter was a “great place,” the man asked if Sunak was “fixing the economy.”
Sunak replied that he was trying and continued, “Do you have a… do you work in a shop?”
“No, I’m homeless. I’m actually a homeless person,” the man replied, adding that he was interested in business and the financial industry.
—Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) December 24, 2022
“Actually, I used to work in finance,” Sunak replied. The two then talk briefly about the financial industry, and Sunak asks him if banking or finance is something he “would like to get into.”
“I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t know, I’d like to get through Christmas first,” the man replied.
The clip, which has been viewed over 10 million times on Twitter, was originally posted by ITV News on December 23, but it appears to have blown up the next day when it was republished by Adam Bienkov, political editor of the Byline Times, who called it “absolutely bizarre”.
Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the opposition Labor Party, also shared the video and called the interaction “excruciating” just like … did Journalist Ian Fraser. Comedian Nish Kumar just tweeted“What.”
Jess Philips, a Labor MP, also tweeted about the videoand writes: “Rishi Sunak, masquerading as a charity worker while homelessness and poverty turn sour under his leadership of the economy and while his government drags its feet on the ordinance against those who benefit from homelessness and vulnerability, is as chilling as expected. “
A number from people tweeted that they thought the video showed that the prime minister, whose family has an estimated net worth of $825 million, is out of touch with the life of the average Brit. other viewers defended Sunak against the criticism and praised him for not “patronizing” the man because he was homeless.
Sunak is a former investment banker who became Prime Minister of the UK in October after being elected leader of the Conservative Party. He was previously Chancellor of the Exchequer, the government’s chief finance minister.
The interaction comes amid a growing UK cost of living crisis as energy bills soar and inflation hit a 40-year high.
Sunak has previously been criticized for his vast wealth and his wife’s claim that she is not a resident, which could have lowered her tax burden.
