PM claims he's 'not a betting person' but old interview clip exposes truth
Rishi Sunak's claim he is "not a betting person" has been thrown into chaos after a clip of him ranting about enjoying spread-betting on cricket was unearthed.
The Prime Minister was accused of being "callous and downright cruel" after agreeing to a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan he would get deport asylum seekers to Rwanda before the next election.
Asked about the interview with the TalkTV presenter on Monday, Mr Sunak denied the wager was a mistake but admitted he had been caught off guard when Mr Morgan shook hands with him on the bet. "I'm not a betting person and I was taken totally by surprise in the middle of that interview," he said.
But in interview with the BBC's Test Match Special podcast in July last year, Mr Sunak said spread-betting was "great" and gushed about spending a summer gambling on the cricket. Speaking about the 2005 Ashes, Mr Sunak said: "I was actually living abroad. I was in the middle of my masters degree in the States, but I was back home in the summer to work. So that summer is ingrained in my memory... I was doing this internship for my new job and we spent the summer watching it.
"But I also, which was quite dangerous, discovered - I think it was around that time that spread-betting had become a thing online, I certainly had never done it before - so I was sitting there working on one side doing my investing, finance job and on the other screen... I was doing Next Wicket Partnership, Next Wicket Four, Innings Total. I just discovered this thing and it was great, so I had the summer doing that as well."
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The PM has been criticised over making the £1,000 bet with Mr Morgan on such a controversial subject at a time when many households are struggling to make ends meet. Asked if it was a mistake to make the bet, he told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday it was not and that he was emphasising he was behind his flagship Tory pledge to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
"No, well the point I was trying to get across - as I was taken totally by surprise - the point I was trying to get across was actually about the Rwanda policy and about tackling illegal migration because it's something I care deeply about," he said. "Obviously people have strong views on this and I just was underlining my absolute commitment to this policy and my desire to get it through Parliament, up and running, because I believe you need to have a deterrent."
Asked if he understood the financial pressures facing ordinary households, Mr Sunak said: "When it comes to cost of living, when I first got this job I set out five priorities - the first of them was to halve inflation because I absolutely understood that the cost of living was the most pressing problem most families faced."
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth said: "Not a lot of people facing rising mortgages, bills and food prices are casually dropping £1,000 bets." The SNP's Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said the "depraved" incident saw "the lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet reduced to a crude bet".
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "Rishi Sunak either does not care or does not get it. As the Prime Minister buries his head in the sand and pretends everything is fine, people across the country are suffering. Most people when they are hit with a surprise £1,000 bill worry about how they are going to make their next mortgage payments or put food on the table for their children. Instead, the Prime Minister does not even register the significance of that amount of money. Out of touch does not even begin to describe Sunak."
Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have a combined wealth estimated at around £529 million, according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List.
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