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Rishi Sunak borrowed Kia Rio from Sainsbury’s worker for fuel duty photoshoot, Treasury admits
People were quick to question why a multi-millionaire would own a Kia Rio
The Treasury has admitted to ‘borrowing’ a Kia Rio from a Sainsbury’s worker for Rishi Sunak’s fuel duty photoshoot.
The Chancellor was pictured filling up the vehicle – estimated to be worth around £12,000 – shortly after his spring statement announcement on Wednesday, where he confirmed fuel duty would be cut to 5p a litre.
However, people were quick to notice the absence of Sunak’s usual government-issue Jaguar, with many pointing out the unlikelihood of a multi-millionaire owning or driving a Kia Rio.
It didn’t take long for the mockery to begin, with social media users revelling in the Chancellor’s attempt at coming across like a ‘normal’ person and slamming him as ‘out of touch’.
One person commented: “During the last recession, #RishiSunak actually got richer. He’s never ‘tightened his belt’, ever. Now we’re supposed to believe he’s swapped his usual chauffeur-driven range for a Kia Rio.”
Another quipped sarcastically: “Oh look! It’s Rishi Sunak, man of the people, filling up his Kia Rio like everyone else. While wearing a clip on mic. With two pieces of Tory party donor branding in the background.”
Read More: Rishi Sunak confirms 5p cut in fuel duty as part of spring statement
And today, after much speculation, Treasury sources have confirmed that the Kia wasn’t Sunak’s own car, saying he had borrowed the vehicle from a Sainsbury’s staff member – though he did apparently pay for the petrol out of his own pocket.
The source would not comment on what car the Chancellor had arrived to the supermarket in, or whether he had driven it himself, citing security reasons.
This comes just one day on from Sunak’s ‘car crash’ television appearances where he attempted to justify his spring announcement, which has come under scrutiny for not being effective enough to help with the cost of living crisis.
In his interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the Chancellor repeatedly complained of various ‘sound difficulties’, which supposedly made him unable to hear a number of difficult questions by hosts Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh.
Elsewhere in the heated interview, he also made various attempts to end his airtime prematurely – while Shephard was in the middle of questioning him, Sunak began cutting the host off by repeatedly saying ‘goodbye’.