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Becca Monaghan
Mar 25, 2022
Rishi Sunak struggles to use contactless payment in awkward clip
Independent TV
Rishi Sunak may have slashed 5p off a litre of petrol, but now attention has turned to how he later announced it on Twitter following his Spring Statement.
The chancellor headed to his local Sainsbury's petrol station to cosplay being "ordinary." How did he do that? He borrowed a humble Kia Rio from a man who works there and filled it with petrol for a photo op.
"It's 6pm - the biggest cut to all fuel duty rates ever has just come into effect. #SpringStatement2022," Sunak penned along with the staged shot.
Of course, the photo sparked speculations that the car did not belong to the minister. And they were right.
"Confirmed by Treasury sources that this Kia is not Rishi Sunak's car but is actually owned by a Sainsbury's employee," Westminister correspondent and LBC. presenter Ben Kentish said. "The Chancellor apparently paid for the petrol."
It's 6pm - the biggest cut to all fuel duty rates ever has just come into effect. #SpringStatement2022pic.twitter.com/zd16vQ7wRH— Rishi Sunak (@Rishi Sunak) 1648058406
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What happened next was that of comedy gold. Inevitably, people turned to Twitter to annihilate Sunak's with roasts.
Here are 14 of our favourites:
Imagine doing your shift in Sainsbury's and one of Rishi's advisors comes over to see you if they can borrow your car. "One of the managers says you have a normal car, like a Kia or something? Like some sort of loser car?"— Mollie Goodfellow (@Mollie Goodfellow) 1648127214
keep trying to put my finger on what is so objectionable about these photos and it\u2019s the fervent excitement on display at cosplaying as a poor like a child playing dress uphttps://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1506967975278034948\u00a0\u2026— three steaks pam (@three steaks pam) 1648128238
So apparently Rishi Sunak borrowed a Sainsburys worker's car for his petrol station photo shoot. Also, no one in the history of filling their car up with petrol ever smiles like this when doing so. Politics is literally a spoof movie these days.pic.twitter.com/DECF216WlF— James Melville (@James Melville) 1648128803
I've been shopping in Sainsbury's for years and had no idea they let you borrow their staffs car. I'm going today to see if I can register for the scheme. \n#RishiSunak #borrowmycarpic.twitter.com/Tss8PHJLUa— Pickle-Lily \ud83d\udc99 (@Pickle-Lily \ud83d\udc99) 1648188319
Dear @RishiSunak I'm a bit skint at the moment; could you fill my car up for me? Thanks.— Ian Parsons #FBPE #FBNHS #JOHNSONOUT No DM's (@Ian Parsons #FBPE #FBNHS #JOHNSONOUT No DM's) 1648199280
Dear @RishiSunak, when real people fill up with petrol\u2026\n\nI) Nobody looks at the car. Everyone looks at the dial on the pump.\n\n2) Nobody smiles.pic.twitter.com/YzmOASVmSN— Andrew Graystone (@Andrew Graystone) 1648137776
Maybe Rishi Sunak\u2019s plan is just to fill up a different person\u2019s car every day? Is there a car park near Downing St we need to report to?— Matt Green (@Matt Green) 1648158207
No sign of Rishi Sunak at the local petrol station today. I had to fill my own car.— Dr Eric Farmer (@Dr Eric Farmer) 1648155999
Do 'normal' people wear their microphones while pretending to fill up their fake cars with petrol ..or is it just 'out of touch' multimillionaire Chancellor\u2019s that do this?pic.twitter.com/c8cxuNixzi— \u2606Mr Sal\u2606 \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\ude4f \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@\u2606Mr Sal\u2606 \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\ude4f \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1648074053
Good morning! Here\u2019s a more candid shot of Rishi getting from A to B.pic.twitter.com/Ld4sWvPAQr— lucy siegle (@lucy siegle) 1648110712
Nobody loves cosplaying as working-class more than the Tories. But the worst thing is, although he\u2019s the richest MP in Parliament w a billionaire wife, he\u2019ll probably still put this on his expenses.https://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1506967975278034948\u00a0\u2026— Aleesha Khaliq (@Aleesha Khaliq) 1648127620
It bothers me how he leans on it like a urinalhttps://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1506967975278034948\u00a0\u2026— James Felton (@James Felton) 1648125364
"Can I borrow your car?"\n"Why?"\n"I need to look poor for pictures so people think I'm normal"\n"What"\n"There's a shiny coin in it for you"https://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1506967975278034948\u00a0\u2026— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) 1648129622
Imagine having to cos-play being normal - and the result being you end up putting petrol in someone else's car before getting into your Bentley that's hidden round the corner NORMAL SO NORMALhttps://twitter.com/BenKentish/status/1506969370827923462\u00a0\u2026— Caitlin Moran (@Caitlin Moran) 1648126647
Just as you thought it couldn't get any more cringeworthy, the chancellor couldn't get his head around contactless payments while attempting to buy a can of Coke.
chancellor of the exchequer doesn\u2019t know how to use contactless my head\u2019s gonepic.twitter.com/h2yBKVMu2K— lucy (@lucy) 1648071257
"For me, it's not even that's he doesn't know how to use a bank card (I've made silly mistakes at payment)," one said. "It's that he clearly doesn't realise you need to scan items when you buy them: 'Where's your expenses form, layman?'"
Another joked: "First time in a shop for the multi-millionaire former hedge fund manager. Coca Cola is the only product he recognised - he's not going to drink it…"
While a third eagle-eyed Twitter user responded: "I watched it about 12 times on loop just in case it looked bad, but actually wasn't. But it really was that bad. He tried to scan his card on the bar code reader. He doesn't grasp the sequence required to purchase an item. He's *never been in a shop*."
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