Rishi Sunak: Labour attacks on my wealth ‘don’t bother me’

Rishi Sunak has said attacks on his wealth do not bother him despite the Labour Party’s attempts to make him appear out of touch.

The prime minister was asked about Labour’s attack ads against him while visiting Japan for the G7 summit.

He said that while he notices the attacks at Prime Minister’s Questions from Sir Keir Starmer every Wednesday, “the rest of it I don’t”.

Mr Sunak said: “These things generally don’t worry me.

“I don’t think most people sitting at home actually are much bothered about these things either.

“What they care about is – what am I doing for them to make their lives better?

“As I talked a lot about last summer, I think we’ve moved beyond judging people by what’s in their bank account.

“I think they’re interested in whether I’m going to deliver for them and their families.”

Mr Sunak’s remarks about people not being interested in his wealth come after The Sunday Times Rich List estimated he and his wife Akshata Murty lost £500,000 a day last year – but are still worth a reported £529m.

The drop was due to a fall in the value of the shares in her father’s IT company, Infosys.

Labour’s attacks have included accusing Mr Sunak of not wanting to jail child sex offenders or people who commit gun crimes.

The party also claimed Mr Sunak thought it was right to raise taxes for working people “when your family benefitted from a tax loophole”.

This is a reference to the fact Ms Murty held non-dom tax status until it was revealed in the media, when she began paying UK tax on her income.

It has become a key attack line for Labour amid the rising cost of living, with both Ms Murty and Mr Sunak independently wealthy.

But Mr Sunak said: “These things don’t bother me.”

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The prime minister claimed the public is more interested in his five priorities.

He said: “I believe that they care about a government that wants to help them with the cost of living, I believe they want a government that is going to make sure that the NHS is there for their families when they need, which is why cutting waiting lists is important.”

Mr Sunak added: “I believe they want a government that’s going to stop the boats because there needs to be fairness in our migration system.

“Those are my values but fundamentally it’s about delivering for them on their priorities.”