The ex-chancellor sat awkwardly, like a man about to undergo an enema: HENRY DEEDES analyses Rishi Sunak’s interview with Andrew Neil
Call it desperate, call it one last roll of the dice, but Rishi Sunak last night agreed to be interviewed by Channel 4’s Andrew Neil. Is he mad?
Neil is the crotchety Scottish terrier whose techniques are just about on the right side of the Geneva Convention and probably still give the boys and girls guarding Gitmo a few ideas.
Why any politician would submit themselves to one of his cross-examinations is one of life’s mysteries.
Perhaps they derive some sort of masochistic pleasure from it. Like people who run marathons or those weirdos who post videos on the internet of themselves eating flaming hot chilli peppers.
We immediately saw Sunak sat behind a desk, his hands placed slightly awkwardly on top of each other. Across his mouth was smeared a distinctly uncomfortable grin. He looked like a man nervously waiting to undergo an enema.
Call it desperate, call it one last roll of the dice, but Rishi Sunak last night agreed to be interviewed by Channel 4’s Andrew Neil. Is he mad?
When Neil is in the chair there is no small talk or idle chit-chat – ‘Been on your holidays? How are the kids?’ etc. Instead, it’s just… whoomf! Straight down to business. He’d be a lousy door-to-door sales rep.
Tax was the main topic, namely why Rishi as chancellor made us pay so much of it. Sunak said he wanted to pay down the cost of the pandemic rather than saddle our grandchildren with all that debt. ‘I’d like to give people all these nice things – don’t you think that’d make my life easier?’ he pleaded.
Rishi kept calling Neil by his first name. Most of his replies began with a chummy ‘look, Andrew’. Doubtless his spin doctors thought familiarity might soften the old brute. It didn’t.
Neil kept coming at him over tax rises. A Bren gun with ceaseless ammunition. Pop, pop, pop.
Why had he frozen the income tax threshold? Why had he left comfortable pensioners alone? Why were so many people paying the top rate? Unfortunately for Sunak, Neil is that rare thing in journalism – someone who actually understands economics.
Neil kept coming at him over tax rises. A Bren gun with ceaseless ammunition. Pop, pop, pop. Why had he frozen the income tax threshold? Why had he left comfortable pensioners alone?
He asked Rishi teasingly if it was true he once had a picture of one his predecessors, Nigel Lawson, in his office in the Treasury. ‘I do,’ said Rishi. I trust his family also made it on to the wall.
Talk turned toward the NHS. Neil pointed out that waiting lists were up, despite the gazillions of pounds which get thrown at the Health Service every year. ‘These are complex issues, Andrew,’ Rishi mansplained.
Yes, yes, said Neil. But it had gotten worse on the Government’s watch. ‘Andrew, I left the Government,’ pleaded Rishi.
‘Yes, but only a few days ago,’ barked Neil. Sunak’s answer to the NHS backlog was to set up a task force. Yes, that should do it!
There was mention of a recent video which surfaced of Sunak in which he told an interviewer he didn’t know any working class people.
Bit odd for someone who claims to come from such a modest background. ‘I grew up working in my mother’s pharmacy,’ Sunak reasoned. ‘We know all that,’ sighed Neil witheringly.
He seemed to think Sunak’s ’umble roots were a tad overplayed. Especially since he was schooled at Winchester. Neil’s intellect of course was forged and honed at Paisley Grammar.
A brief tit-for-tat developed over Lady Sunak’s non-dom tax status. ‘I’m the one running for office, not my wife,’ said Rishi. His voice lowered a bit at this point. He shot Neil a steely look as if to say ‘Let’s leave her out of this, shall we?’ Respect.
We were now out of time. To be fair to Sunak he was still standing. But only just.
Incidentally, his opponent Liz Truss had given Neil’s offer of an interview a wide swerve. ‘Her choice, of course,’ said Neil, voice laced with irritation. Chicken? Jolly wise, I’d say…
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