Chancellor Sunak's wife richer than the Queen

Riverwalk

I'm well are that it's the 21st century.

Apparently he hasn't declared his financial details to the full - under the Ministerial Code that of close family has also to be declared, and it's claimed that he hasn't done this.

this, exactly, and possible conflict of interests.

I understood that the wealth belonged to his wife and her family. I fail to see what this has to do with his job. As for his wife being richer than the Queen, I suspect this is supposition. It will be a limited number of people who are privy to details of the Queen's finances or Mrs Sunak's.

For me the point behind all this is the bad taste in the mouth left by a chancellor with much personal wealth imposing pay freezes on teachers, policemen and other public sectors workers, stalling on increasing UC, taking money from pensions etc without one word about how the wealthy will contribute to economic recovery. Or did I miss something?

It seems strange to me that anyone would think that the ‘poor’ have no business living in lovely countryside (Yorkshire or anywhere else for that matter)!

Should they all be herded into inner city ghettoes or on industrial zones surrounded by ugly factories where they can work for a pittance?

I volunteered at a food bank in our village on the north Wales coast where people come for their holidays in their droves in normal times and so many users have said that we’re so lucky to have a lovely area in which to live, with mountains and beaches to enjoy for free.

MaizieD Do not be so uncaring about poverty. A rural constituency like North Yorkshire may have a number of well off residents but under that there will be serious rural poverty agravated by inadequate and expensive public transport, which makes running a car essential. Food banks there are, but when population is scattered in small villags and isolated areas, and there are few towns, Food banks there are, but often inaccessible to many.

Six weeks ago, that most self-righteous of newspapers, The Guardian wrote about this naive urban belief that everything in the country s wonderful ww.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/13/city-dwellers-idealise-britains-countryside-but-theres-no-escaping-rural-poverty

annsixty

I think the fact of this story which occur to me is that all that wealth ,whether hers or his, means they have no idea how ordinary Joes, manage on an average wage or benefits if that is what they need to do.
Life is desperate for many families, their family will never experience that.

That's what I think, too, annsixty. He, through no particular fault of his own, will have no understanding of the implications of tory policies. (though, TBH, I think that contempt for the poor is a condition of becoming a tory MP)

I don't know if his constituency is particularly poor. Nice little touristy town in lovely N Yorks countryside. I doubt if there are many food banks there...

I think the fact of this story which occur to me is that all that wealth ,whether hers or his, means they have no idea how ordinary Joes, manage on an average wage or benefits if that is what they need to do.
Life is desperate for many families, their family will never experience that.

SueDonim

Not really about Rishi Sunak, but a general question provoked by the issue. Is a person legally obliged to inform their spouse what their own assets are?

No obligation at all, I’m sure a great many don’t know and it would take a good deal of effort to find out in many cases, pensions, investments, asset values, it would all have to be revealed for divorce though.

I'm more bothered that one of her companies got a 22 million pound contract for PPE....NOT surprised just bloody annoyed.Jobs for the boys...and their spouses

25Avalon who cares? They are as British as I am - and I am half Irish, again, who cares?

I don’t understand why people say it is joint income. My husband and I had separate tax returns.

Are the Sunaks getting divorced, Smileless2012? Even then, is it a matter of public knowledge?

Yes they are Sue if the couple have split up and divorce proceedings are underway.

Yes, I was thinking that if his wife has considerable financial assets, they’d be Googleable.

SueDonim

Not really about Rishi Sunak, but a general question provoked by the issue. Is a person legally obliged to inform their spouse what their own assets are?

I don't know for sure, but I very much doubt it.

OTH, when a family is as wealthy as Sunak's wife's is a few minutes googling would probably tell you an awful lot.

Not really about Rishi Sunak, but a general question provoked by the issue. Is a person legally obliged to inform their spouse what their own assets are?

Just to reiterate - I have not seen signs on here of any jealousy of Mrs Sunak's wealth. Doubtless her father worked hard to build his business. However, the declarations of interest are important. As has been seen with Johnson, Cummings et al many tory ministers are willing to bend the rules by not putting contracts out to tender but just offering them to their mates and family members.

#Marr decided the country did not need to know our multi millionaire Chancellor

* raised minimum wage by just 19p an hour

* raised benefits for millions of desperate people by 37p a week

* increased Carers Allowance by just 34p a week

If you think public should know RT this

Rishi Sunak dubbed “Richie” after it was revealed his wife is richer than the Queen and he omitted this from his list of financial interests.
Jacob Rees-Mogg declares that the government is using taxpayers’ money to boost the economy, while failing to declare the income of his own business or to pay taxes on its profits (he has based it in a tax haven).

Some of those BBC reports are of fairly wide importance but shouldn’t the BBC be reporting what interests people, too? Is Auntie trying to divert us away from the problems of Labour’s right-wing would-be-dictator and the corruption inherent in Conservative ministers?

A very useful, if depressing, article on how the Johnson government has been systematically destroying the checks & balances of power.

Judiciary, Electoral Commission, FoI, Parliamentary processes, public procurement, Civil Service - all go under the bus.

“Boris Johnson’s administration now lies as a matter of policy & a matter of course. Today’s ministers do not just avoid the question. They lie outright, loud and proud”

Ah this was in the Guardian.
Now there’s a surprise!

It was in other papers, too. I saw it in the Daily Mail, JE

The fact that his wife is wealthy is totally irrelevant and complaining about her wealth is just another nasty example of sneering jealousy so common from some on the Left.

I think that you are completely failing to understand what a 'conflict of interest' is. If you read the thread with your blinkers off I think you'll find that no-one is complaining about his wife's wealth.

What is worrying is that he has failed to declare information about his immediate family which could lead to a conflict of interest. Ministers are supposed to do that. So they can be held to account if they promote policies which favour a section of society with which they are closely involved. The electorate is entitled to know if a Minister is working for the whole country, which they should be, and to question actions which appear to be prioritising one section above the rest.

Maybe if he asks nicely she will give him an interest free loan to help bail us out!

Ah this was in the Guardian.
Now there’s a surprise!

By the way Riversidegirl I would like to know where you read or heard that the Chancellor has said “children can die” ?

You won’t be able to of course because it’s utter nonsense and shameful that you inferred he had said that.

Sunak has been an excellent Chancellor, investing eye watering amounts into the economy to support people.

The fact that his wife is wealthy is totally irrelevant and complaining about her wealth is just another nasty example of sneering jealousy so common from some on the Left.

Kircubbin 2000 - so you know someone, whose sister encourages their child to achieve, at the expense of other things. This ‘proves’ something about aspirant wealthy Asians ?
It isn’t being “snippy” about the use of the words black or Asian to challenge racism in its many forms

The only issue here is a conflict of interests.

I have no interest in how wealthy Sunak is, but I am interested in his asset ownership.

Sunak failed to fully declare his assets in shares etc.

Nothing will be done though as this government is corrupt, and voters seem happy to have a corrupt government.

Everything is topsy -turvey.

Calendargirl

I’m sure if we look back at the first and second world wars, certain politicians and associates have benefitted from government contracts for supplies, equipment, weapons.
And further back than that.

It’s always gone on.

Isn't that why the Ministerial Code exists?

It's not just that his wife has shares. She owns at least one company and is director of several others. A possible conflict of interest exists.

And I don't know where this being snippy about Asians accusation comes from. Only one person mentioned it in a perfectly non-snippy way.

kircubbin2000

Several of you getting nippy hearing the words Asian and black.Its not racist to comment on statistics and it's well known that poor white boys do worse in many schools. Some communities have a strong work ethic and value education and some don't. An Asian I know complains about the pressure her sister puts on her kids. They must do well at any cost.The family is wealthy but miss out on other things.

I just asked what the point was, that’s all. Those statistics didn’t seem particularly relevant.