Rishi Sunak says he was 'silly' to say he had no working-class friends

In an interview with Andrew Neil on Channel 4, Rishi Sunak admitted it was 'silly' to say he had no working class friends - a statement he made in a 2001 BBC documentary on class.

‘We all say silly things when we’re students, but I’ve talked about my background, my family were welcomed here as migrants,’ he said. Neil also asked Sunak if it was’ unsavoury’ for the son of successful middle-class migrants to support the Rwanda policy – to which the former chancellor responded: ‘No’

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[Johnsmith]

It wasn’t silly, it was honest. Probably the only time the man has ever been honest in his life

[pancakeman]

'I grew up working in my Mum's pharmacy' Man of the people

[hermitally]

He was just an average kid, whose Mum had a Pharamacy and his Dad was a Doctor. Just average.

[RMetsy]

What's the point of this when it's not a public vote?

[jameshallam]

It’s silly that him having no working class friends is the only honest thing he has ever said

[bigfatchubbybritboy]

I wish Andrew Neil or indeed anyone in the media would ask Sunak why as a billionaire he's even in politics to begin with, ask him what his motives are as a billionaire when it's so obvious he doesn't have a clue or care about the common people.

[nevm]

the thing is you don’t have to have had working class friends or even have grown up working class yourself to want to do the right thing for average working people... Rishi’s problem isn’t that he didn’t have any working class friends growing up, a lot of people don’t, it’s that he allows that to effect how he views the world today. I grew up in Manhattan “high society”, so I grew up around incredible wealth and attended elite private schools and also can’t say that I had any working class or even middle class friends growing up... BUT I don’t allow myself to believe that’s how most people live just because it’s how I grew up, I don’t allow myself to become stuck in that bubble or to believe that just because I grew up around incredible wealth and success means that everyone’s capable of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps... especially knowing firsthand that much of the time that wealth was inherited and it’s kinda hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don’t even have any boots. Rich people are capable of empathizing and of being effective advocates for the poor and working class, but only if they make a conscious effort to pop their own bubble and don’t solely rely on their own experiences as a guidepost for what’s normal and achievable. Rishi’s problem is that he hasn’t figured that out yet, and clearly may never.

[springchicken]

Well said Andrew Neill. I have heard enough now about his family.

[benbutcher]

Only honest thing he's ever said.

[tafadzwamanzini]

If he said he has no working class friends that would be fine . Out of touch but fine . But the slight visible disgust lol that was funny

[ahumanbeing]

"We all say silly things when we’re students." What he really meant: I really had no working-class friends. It is "silly" that people make such a big deal out of it.

[andrewaverill]

It's the way he laughed when he said we'll no I don't have any working class friends, says it all. We are all the colour peasant to him.

[Devtherev]

He was only a student then, he’s probably got loads of working class mates now

[ashhabzoha]

Ah the billionaire underdog talking about the poor classic

[saznoozalot]

"A billion people would love to move here, because it's an amazing country that myself and my colleagues have been fighting to destroy since before time began"

[Thedarkknight]

Boris and Liz Truss also do not have working class friends. In fact: “British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music”. This is what Liz thinks of the British working class

[TKY]

He’s never even been to a food bank so the only person he’s served is him self

[johnsmith]

The Tories feel nothing but contempt for you as well.

[avo]

Nothing wrong with not having working-class friends or no friends at all

[indigosub]

Is there something here about the education system (that seems to be purchaseable) to the level that anyone with sufficient resources (and a studious and affected child) can buy their way into governmental high seats without any actual knowledge of the operational environment of a country on the day to day? Should there be a curriculum model somewhere about understanding what it means, day to day, for the people you're being set up to lead? I'd quite like to see the course outline that has led to the recent ministerial choices (1979 to present)...