Andy Richardson: 'Can he fix it? Yes he can'
Rishi Sunak has an impressive pedigree.
He was educated at Winchester College before studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford. He moved as a Fulbright scholar to Stanford University to complete his MBA before becoming a hedge fund manager in The City. Along the way he met his wife, Akshata Murthy, who just so happens to be the daughter of Indian billionaire and co-founder of Infosys, N R Narayana Murthy.
Elected to the House of Commons in 2015, within five years Rishi has ascended to the second most powerful job in the UK. Good work, Mr S.
What Sunak’s Wikipedia biography omits to mention is this. He also moonlights as Bob The Builder. It’s unclear whether Sunak was in on the ground when Neil Morrissey came to voice the story of a likeable building contractor and his gang of anthropomorphised work-vehicles, though it’s reasonably clear he was behind the slogan: Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!
Take the cliff edge faced by millions of people when the UK went into lockdown and businesses could no longer afford to pay their staff. Could he fix it? Yes he could. Furlough arrived, millions retained jobs that would otherwise have been wiped out and Sunak swapped Bob’s hi-vis jacket and yellow builder’s helmet for a Superman cape.
The same happened with charities. Sunak shelled out huge sums to plug the gap as good causes were unable to fundraise. His latest scheme, Eat Out To Help Out, is proving an unparalleled success. Millions are scoffing burgers and chips at a time when his not-so-competent master, BoJo, is encouraging us all to lose weight. The hospitality industry has been given the shot in the arm it needs.
Regular reader Peter Simpson, of Dudley, wishes politicians would start telling the truth, after fudging claims on the we’re-not-really-going-to-get-£350-million-a-week-for-the-NHS Brexit bonus, misleading the public in January into thinking the Covid-19 risk was low, lying about being well-prepared for the pandemic when the reality was that we were anything but and being less than transparent about post-Brexit fishing rights.
Allowing – and I quote – ‘Boris and his cohorts to get away with the waffling nonsense they spout’ – does us no good, says Mr Simpson.
Clearly, what we need, is Bob the Builder to replace BoJo in Number 10. Can he fix it? Yes he can.
