Kate Plummer
Mar 24, 2022
Independent
Rishi Sunak has seized another photo op and people aren't happy about it.
After delivering the Spring Statement, in which he cut fuel duty and raised the national insurance threshold, among other policy changes, the chancellor celebrated by posting a photo of himself filling 'his' car with petrol at a supermarket in a suit complete with a microphone attached to his tie.
"It's 6pm - the biggest cut to all fuel duty rates ever has just come into effect," he said, which is sort of true...
Sunak cut the fuel duty by 5p to deal with rising inflation and petrol prices. However, this will take time to come into effect as retailers will have to sell off their existing fuel which was purchased before the duty was cut. Meanwhile, the price of petrol has increased due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so 5p might not be that helpful.
“We’re pleased to see the Chancellor has given drivers some much-needed relief at the pumps, but the reality is that a 5p cut in duty is something of a drop in the ocean,” said RAC spokesman Nicholas Lyes. “In reality, reducing it by 5p will only take prices back to where they were just over a week ago.”
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Aside from that, the threshold in which people start paying national insurance has been increased by £3000 to £12,570 and Sunak has dangled the prospect of cutting basic rate income tax by 1p in 2024.
With that in mind, people simply didn't believe Sunak's photo was authentic and that he nips to Sainsbury's in his car on the regs to get petrol.
Says guy who set foot in petrol station for first time in his life today at 6pmhttps://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1506692275216265219\u00a0\u2026— Rebel without a clue (@Rebel without a clue) 1648080785
Oh don\u2019t you start the ridiculous photo ops at every turn. It\u2019s vain,dull and wasted your time and our money. Actions speak louder than poses.https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1506692275216265219\u00a0\u2026— Deborah Meaden \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Deborah Meaden \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1648079772
\u201cI borrowed this Kia-Ora from some food bank called Sainsburys for a photo op\u201dhttps://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1506692275216265219\u00a0\u2026— Marek\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Marek\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1648108795
Hey @RishiSunak you\u2019ve just pushed 1.3m people into absolute poverty this year including 500,000 children.UC rise abolished , NI increase , not feeding children in a pandemic etc . You\u2019re building a truly great record of achievements. Keep smiling for those photo opportunities— Gary Neville (@Gary Neville) 1648106491
It must be nice to not have to look at the fuel pump... \n\n#ToryMillionaires\n#OutOfTouchhttps://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1506692275216265219\u00a0\u2026— Cllr. Ryan Wilson (@Cllr. Ryan Wilson) 1648109295
Just a regular guy doing regular guy stuff, totally naturalpic.twitter.com/FdiC93jnhq— HappyToast \u2605 (@HappyToast \u2605) 1648071997
pic.twitter.com/RicL4GQSI9— Cold War Steve (@Cold War Steve) 1648062818
And don't get us started on the footage from inside the petrol station:
Say what you like about Rishi, he does a cracking impression of a billionaire who has never been in a shop before.pic.twitter.com/Yd6Hu07llP— THE SECRET TORY \ud83d\uddfd (@THE SECRET TORY \ud83d\uddfd) 1648070175
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