Why on earth was Boris on holiday?

growstuff

It depends what you mean by "rich". For anybody on minimum wage (or even the national average wage), the fees for Winchester are more than they earn - and I bet they were in the mid 1990s when Sunak went there.

In fairness though a GP has worked many years to get to that position, as has a pharmacist. You can’t compare their roles and salaries to somebody on a minimum wage. They still wouldn’t be earning a huge fortune though to send two sons to Winchester, it would have involved sacrifices. I’ve always understood that Asian families prioritise education far more highly than average British families do, and often club together to ensure that children get the best they can collectively afford. I suspect he would have done very well regardless of where he went to school for that reason. Whatever we think of Sunak’s policies and judgment, there is no denying he’s made a lot of what he was given.

I realise that ‘rich’ means different things to different people. Certainly, from a personal perspective, Sunak’s school fees in the 1990s were more than my total household income - and that’s with two people ‘working hard’! From a wider perspective, I think Sunak should realise this, and stop saying he’s from a very ‘ordinary’ background when he isn’t. Maybe not ‘super rich’ but very well-off.

It doesn't matter how much money they had, what matters is that Rishi tries to pretend he one of the lads, delivering things on his bike and working as a waiter. Just admit you were well off, Rishi....
I get what Rishi is saying. Our DS went to private school and was one of the lads working at the local farm shop. He sees himself as pretty ordinary.

Joseanne

^It doesn't matter how much money they had, what matters is that Rishi tries to pretend he one of the lads, delivering things on his bike and working as a waiter. Just admit you were well off, Rishi....^
I get what Rishi is saying. Our DS went to private school and was one of the lads working at the local farm shop. He sees himself as pretty ordinary.

Hands up, some of our children went to Private School, they have never considered themselves anything other than normal (whatever normal is?)

Two of my siblings went to Private school, (one boarded and is now a labourer/landscaper)

How he sees himself is not the point Joseanne.

My GCs go to great private schools, so do and did most of my UK family- they are really nice people, and would all see themselves as 'pretty ordinary'. Having taught all my life in large Comprehensives, I know that neither of them have any idea whatsoever or what it is like to live in su-standard, crowded conditions, with one parent who is possibly an addict, no computer, no heating, bedding soaked with urine, and more. NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Rich really does mean different things to different people doesn’t it.

LizzieDrip

Rich really does mean different things to different people doesn’t it.

It's not how wealthy he is, it's how he helps those who are struggling and how he deals with the major problems we are facing as a country.

Fleurpepper

How he sees himself is not the point Joseanne.

My GCs go to great private schools, so do and did most of my UK family- they are really nice people, and would all see themselves as 'pretty ordinary'. Having taught all my life in large Comprehensives, I know that neither of them have any idea whatsoever or what it is like to live in su-standard, crowded conditions, with one parent who is possibly an addict, no computer, no heating, bedding soaked with urine, and more. NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Are you saying that to be an MP or a PM they should have lived in sub-standard housings and have received a poor education ?

Do we all have to have experienced something first hand to empathise?

Joseanne

^Sunak's parents being able to afford £ 72,000 a year in prep school fees and £150,000 a year in boarding school fees puts them on my wealthy list.^
Can I ask where you found those exorbitant school fees from Normandygirl? They are incorrect, and also Sunak's parents wouldn't have paid the same amount in 1990s as now.

As Volver pointed out, the Sunaks had three children who all attended very prestigious prep and boarding school.
Not a problem at all until people claim that he came from an ordinary background without the privilege of considerable wealth. That is a false claim.

Fleurpepper

How he sees himself is not the point Joseanne.

My GCs go to great private schools, so do and did most of my UK family- they are really nice people, and would all see themselves as 'pretty ordinary'. Having taught all my life in large Comprehensives, I know that neither of them have any idea whatsoever or what it is like to live in su-standard, crowded conditions, with one parent who is possibly an addict, no computer, no heating, bedding soaked with urine, and more. NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Some people have no understanding of others' predicaments, others do.

You don't have to have the lived experience to have empathy and understanding.

As long as he doesn't try to claim that he had to sleep on a park bench as one PM said he did, or had to fetch water because she came from an impoverished background as a candidate for PM did the last time round.

Agreed- but it is difficult for someone with his education and upbringing to have insight into poverty, and struggling every single day to make ends meet, and make difficult choices to survive.

Back to education, my ACs went to the local primary then the local Comprehensives. They had a pretty good, comfortable life, and had everything they needed, and two parents who cared and supported- but at least they had friends who had very different backgrounds and real family issues, and real problems with finances and worse. Several we took under our wing(s), and that made them even more aware.

NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Exactly Fleurpepper. It is crucial that someone in his position understands what living in poverty is like. I’m not saying he’s not a ‘nice person’ because he went to private school etc but I am saying I wish he would be honest about his lived experience.

Thank you for making your post clearer for us perplexed readers Normandygirl.

NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi

Presumably you would say you understand and, having worked in an environment where I heard real horror stories worse than that, so do I.

But I have not had those experiences personally and, presumably, neither did you, Fleurpepper, although I'll bet you might think my upbringing was impoverished compared to yours.
It doesn't mean we can't understand or have empathy which I am sure you do.

*As Volver pointed out, the Sunaks had three children who all attended very prestigious prep and boarding school.
Not a problem at all until people claim that he came from an ordinary background without the privilege of considerable wealth. That is a false claim.*

Exactly Normandygirl???

He probably did come from an ordinary background compared to other Wykehamists!

Anyway, it's early days, I shall give him a chance.

This is the man who realised people would struggle with lockdowns and introduced the furlough scheme.

The same man who cut universal credit payments by £20 per week! Ok, some picky posters will say he simply reversed the increase but, to a family living on the breadline …

GrannyGravy13

Fleurpepper

How he sees himself is not the point Joseanne.

My GCs go to great private schools, so do and did most of my UK family- they are really nice people, and would all see themselves as 'pretty ordinary'. Having taught all my life in large Comprehensives, I know that neither of them have any idea whatsoever or what it is like to live in su-standard, crowded conditions, with one parent who is possibly an addict, no computer, no heating, bedding soaked with urine, and more. NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Are you saying that to be an MP or a PM they should have lived in sub-standard housings and have received a poor education ?

Do we all have to have experienced something first hand to empathise?

No, but it helps to acknowledge what some people do experience and have some empathy. We are supposed to live in a democracy, where even the lowliest matter.

Callistemon21

Anyway, it's early days, I shall give him a chance.

This is the man who realised people would struggle with lockdowns and introduced the furlough scheme.

But let 3 million self-employed without one penny of support, even though he was presented with a petition, so can't pretend he didn't know!

Fleurpepper

Agreed- but it is difficult for someone with his education and upbringing to have insight into poverty, and struggling every single day to make ends meet, and make difficult choices to survive.

Back to education, my ACs went to the local primary then the local Comprehensives. They had a pretty good, comfortable life, and had everything they needed, and two parents who cared and supported- but at least they had friends who had very different backgrounds and real family issues, and real problems with finances and worse. Several we took under our wing(s), and that made them even more aware.

Attlee went to Haileybury and Oxford, but became a volunteer at a club for working-class boys, where his eyes were opened to poverty and deprivation. There are some people who have never had their eyes opened.

George Orwell went to Wellington, Eton and Cambridge, but made an effort to find out how the poor of London and Paris lived.

His wife's Dad and family are very powerful in India and well known. I don't suppose they'd want their daughter marrying such an ordinary small person in the UK

GrannyGravy13

Fleurpepper

How he sees himself is not the point Joseanne.

My GCs go to great private schools, so do and did most of my UK family- they are really nice people, and would all see themselves as 'pretty ordinary'. Having taught all my life in large Comprehensives, I know that neither of them have any idea whatsoever or what it is like to live in su-standard, crowded conditions, with one parent who is possibly an addict, no computer, no heating, bedding soaked with urine, and more. NO IDEA WHATSOVER- that is the point for Rishi.

Are you saying that to be an MP or a PM they should have lived in sub-standard housings and have received a poor education ?

Do we all have to have experienced something first hand to empathise?

No- this is not what I am saying, at all. And I do believe you know this.

It does help to know people who have those experiences first hand.

Many famous people who did go to top Public Schools and Colleges became intensely aware of the real challenges some people are faced with. I do not think Sunak is one of them- that is all.

We have moved so so far away from the OP. This thread is not about sunak, but Johnson being on holiday AGAIN, when Parliament is in session, and when he should be doing his JOB in his Constituency.