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Tory Leadership Finalist Sunak Claims He Flew Back From US to Stop Lockdown
Tory Leadership Finalist Sunak Claims He Flew Back From US to Stop Lockdown
Sputnik International
PM Boris Johnson's government responded to the arrival of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 from southern Africa in late 2021 by threatening a repeat of the 2020... 22.07.2022, Sputnik International
2022-07-22T12:20+0000
2022-07-22T12:20+0000
2022-07-22T12:20+0000
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Tory leadership contender Rishi Sunak has claimed he stopped the government imposing a fourth COVID-19 lockdown last Christmas.The former chancellor of the exchequer, who led a wave of ministerial resignations three weeks earlier that forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step down, was grilled by LBC radio's Andrew Marr on Friday morning about whether he began setting up his Ready4rishi.com campaign back in December 2021.Sunak denied the claim, countering that he had cut short a trip to the US state of California to argue against plans for a precautionary lockdown over Christmas.The Johnson government's response to the arrival of the more-transmissible, but far milder, Omicron variant of COVID-19 from southern Africa in late 2021 was to hint at another lockdown over Christmas — if citizens already immunized with the low-cost, UK-developed AstraZeneca jab did not get boosters of the expensive Pfizer vaccine, linked to many cases of heart inflammation.That threat was lifted after millions of Britons queued for hours outside walk-in inoculation centers to get the boosters for fear that family Christmas gatherings and workplace parties would be restricted as they were in 2020."I came back and fought very hard against the system because I believed that would be the wrong thing for this country, with all the damage it would have done to businesses, to children's education, to people's lives," Sunak continued.The Conservative leadership contestant, now vying against Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for the votes of some 200,000 party members, said he had "challenged the system", proving to voters that he was "prepared to push hard and fight for the things that I believe in even when that's difficult."A survey published on Thursday by YouGov, the polling firm set up by current chancellor and failed leadership hopeful Nadhim Zahawi, found Truss leading Sunak among Tory members by an overwhelming 62 percent to 38 percent.In the same interview, Sunak insisted he was the only candidate who could beat opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer in the next general election — a claim borne out by a recent Ipsos Mori poll.The former chancellor also denied Marr's suggestion he had an offshore trust account in a tax haven. Sunak came under fire earlier this year after it emerged his wife, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, had claimed non-domiciled status for tax purposes, and that he had once held a US "Green Card" residency permit.
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Tory Leadership Finalist Sunak Claims He Flew Back From US to Stop Lockdown
PM Boris Johnson's government responded to the arrival of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 from southern Africa in late 2021 by threatening a repeat of the 2020 Christmas lockdown if enough residents did not get boosted with the controversial Pfizer vaccine.
Tory leadership contender
Rishi Sunak has claimed he stopped the government imposing a fourth COVID-19 lockdown last Christmas.
The former chancellor of the exchequer, who led a wave of ministerial resignations three weeks earlier that forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step down, was grilled by LBC radio's Andrew Marr on Friday morning about whether he began setting up his Ready4rishi.com campaign back in December 2021.
Sunak denied the claim, countering that he had cut short a trip to the US state of California to argue against plans for a precautionary lockdown over Christmas.
"What I did in December was fly back from a government trip I was on overseas," Sunak said. "And I flew back to this country to stop us sleepwalking into a national lockdown, because we were hours away from a press conference that was going to lock this country down again because of Omicron."
The Johnson government's response to the arrival of the more-transmissible, but far milder, Omicron variant of COVID-19 from southern Africa in late 2021 was to hint at another lockdown over Christmas — if citizens already immunized with the low-cost, UK-developed AstraZeneca jab did not get boosters of the expensive Pfizer vaccine, linked to many cases of heart inflammation.
That threat was lifted after millions of Britons queued for hours outside walk-in inoculation centers to get the boosters for fear that family Christmas gatherings and workplace parties would be restricted as they were in 2020.
"I came back and fought very hard against the system because I believed that would be the wrong thing for this country, with all the damage it would have done to businesses, to children's education, to people's lives," Sunak continued.
The Conservative leadership contestant, now vying against Foreign Secretary
Liz Truss for the votes of some 200,000 party members, said he had "challenged the system", proving to voters that he was "prepared to push hard and fight for the things that I believe in even when that's difficult."
A survey published on Thursday by
YouGov, the polling firm set up by current chancellor and failed leadership hopeful Nadhim Zahawi, found Truss leading Sunak among Tory members by an overwhelming 62 percent to 38 percent.
In the same interview, Sunak insisted he was the only candidate who could beat opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer in the next general election — a claim borne out by a recent
Ipsos Mori poll.
The former chancellor also denied Marr's suggestion he had an offshore trust account in a tax haven. Sunak came under fire earlier this year after it emerged his wife, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, had claimed
non-domiciled status for tax purposes, and that he had once held a US "Green Card" residency permit.
