Rishi Sunak says was taken 'totally by surprise' when Piers Morgan offered him bet on small boats
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday that he was taken "totally by surprise" when Piers Morgan bet him £1,000 that no migrant deportation flights will take off before the next election, following an opposition and online storm over the "depraved" gesture.
Rishi Sunak shook hands on the bet during an interview with the TalkTV host, provoking renewed criticism that the PM is too rich to understand ordinary people's concerns.
"I'm not a betting person and I was taken totally by surprise in the middle of that interview," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Presenter Rachel Burden put it to him that the bet was more than three times the amount of £299 in cost-of-living payments that the Government started sending out to low-income households on Tuesday.
The PM stressed: "The point I was trying to get across was actually about the Rwanda policy and about tackling illegal migration, because it's something I care deeply about.
"Obviously people have strong views on this. And I just was underlining my absolute commitment to this policy and my desire to get it through Parliament, up and running, because I believe you need to have a deterrent."
But Mr Sunak's claim that he was "not a betting person" appeared to be undermined by an interview he gave last year to the BBC's Test Match Special, during which he recalled making online spread-bets on the cricket Ashes in 2005 when he was working as a financial intern.The PM's official spokesman denied any contradiction, telling reporters: “In general he’s not a betting man.”
Asked if he regretted taking Mr Morgan's bet, the spokesman said: “He was surprised by it. Does he regret having that confidence (in flights taking off)? No. It's a really important issue that we shouldn't get distracted from.”
The controversy came as the Rwanda Bill makes its way through the House of Lords. The legislation passed through the House of Commons last month, despite criticism from some Right-wing Conservative MPs who wanted to toughen up the proposals.
Mr Morgan told the PM: “I'll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity, you don't get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”
Mr Sunak shook hands with the TV host and said Rwanda deportations are part of an “overall plan” that is “working”.
Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General Jonathan Ashworth said: "Not a lot of people facing rising mortgages, bills and food prices are casually dropping £1,000 bets.
"It just shows that Rishi Sunak is totally out of touch with working people."
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn tweeted: “The lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet reduced to a crude bet. It’s just a game to these people. Depraved.”
Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: "A £1,000 might be chump change for Rishi Sunak but the rest of the country cannot throw their money around so easily. That is particularly true after the Conservatives crashed our economy and squeezed family incomes with their incompetence.
"If the Prime Minister believes in gambling then perhaps he should throw the dice and call a general election.”
Mr Sunak told Mr Morgan that his five pledges, which include stopping small boat crossing, halving inflation and bringing down NHS waiting lists, had been intended to show people he was a "different type of politician" who would not "obfuscate".
In the interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, he said: "I think we have made good progress on all of them and we should go through ... I think we have made good progress on the economic ones, which are the first three - to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt.
"We have not made progress on cutting waiting lists, which we will get into, and we have made progress on stopping the boats - but there is more to do - and we will get on to that as well.
"To take a step back before we get into it - you said it was ballsy, but that was what I wanted to do, I wanted to do something different in the sense that I want to be a different type of politician, and I wanted to say, 'Look, you can hold me accountable for things, I am not going to obfuscate'."
The Conservative Party leader said industrial action in the health sector “has had an impact” on delivering the commitment.