, the prime minister was asked by Chris Mason, the BBC’s political editor, whether his decision to personally pay for electricity upgrade work – estimated at tens of thousands of pounds – to heat his private pool left the impression he was out of touch.
Sunak replied: “The important thing is what the government does to help people with energy bills. What I announced as chancellor is a windfall tax on energy companies, because the profits they’re making as a result of the [Ukraine] war, I thought it was right that we tax those. We have used that money to help reduce people’s energy bills.”
Pressed on whether he was able to understand the public’s day-to-day lives given his immense wealth, he added: “I absolutely understand that the number one challenge people are facing is with the cost of living and particularly energy bills. “So what do I do? We tax energy companies more, and we’ve used that money to reduce people’s energy bills by £1,000. That’s the actions of this government, the actions of me as prime minister and chancellor. I think people can see from that, that I do take this really seriously.”
Sunak had constructed a heated pool, gym and tennis court in the grounds of the manor house he occupies at weekends. The 12-metre pool was completed just as many council-run baths, including in his local area, were being forced to reduce their opening hours owing to increased energy costs.