Rishi Sunak said he was “proud” of his economic record when questioned about a carer who cannot afford to buy a light bulb in the cost of living crisis.
In a BBC Breakfast interview on Tuesday morning, the prime minister was challenged on the impact of the crisis and was told of a carer called Nicky, forced to sit in darkness in her kitchen because she cannot afford a light bulb on her £10.50 an hour wage.
“She can’t afford a light bulb until her daughter gets paid next week,” interviewer Jon Kay told the prime minister.
“It’s hard to believe that’s the UK in 2023,” he continued. “You were the chancellor, you’ve been chief secretary to the Treasury, your fingerprints are all over this economy.”
However, in response Mr Sunak said he was proud of the government’s economic record.
“I’m actually really proud that one of the things I did after I became prime minister was made some difficult decisions elsewhere and tax the largest companies more,” Mr Sunak said.
Despite interjection from the interview, Mr Sunak said money made through additional taxes is being used to help people in Nicky’s circumstances and put more money into social care.
Mr Sunak was criticised on social media for his response.
One user said: “I hate that we have a government who don’t care about the fact people can’t afford to eat, heat or even light their homes. They are a disgrace.”
Another added: “Being held to account and all he can say is “ he’s very proud”. What a desperate state this country is in because of these people.”
Mr Sunak was also challenged on Jeremy Hunt’s Back to Work Budget which pledged tax cuts for the wealthiest in the country.
The tax cut for people with pension pots worth more than £1 million is about getting doctors to take on more work, the prime minister has insisted.
When it was put to him that he gave a big tax boost to some of the richest people in the country, Mr Sunak told BBC Breakfast: “This is about cutting waiting lists.
“You know, at this point, think about it, I'm sure almost every person watching this has in their extended circle of friends and family someone who is waiting for treatment.
“We need our best doctors, our experienced doctors, we need them working, and they want to work, they want to help get the waiting lists down, they want to work longer hours, they don't want to retire. And because of the pension regime, they were stopped from doing that, it was preventing them from doing that.
“And I want to get the waiting list down and that's why we've made the change that we've made, and it's going to benefit everyone to get health care quicker.”
But Labour has criticised the move as a “giveaway to the richest 1 per cent”, arguing a bespoke pensions scheme for doctors would be fairer.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated the tax break could boost the workforce by 15,000 as people who might otherwise have retired to avoid breaching the lifetime allowance decide to stay on instead.
When it was put to the prime minister that only hundreds of doctors might stay on, he said: “There's thousands of doctors that leave the NHS every year; about two thirds to three quarters of them have said that they don't provide extra hours.
“It's not just about whether they leave or stay; it's about whether they're doing the extra shifts, because that's what's going to help us get the backlog down.”
