Chris Mason takes swipe at Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak
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BBC Breakfast was hosted by Chris Mason and Katherine Downes on Sunday morning. The presenting duo welcomed journalists Sonia Sodha and Matt Chorley onto the programme to discuss the government’s decision to increase National Insurance. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak published an article today in which they committed to the tax increase. However, while discussing the joint article, Mason took a swipe at the Conservative politicians.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor have made a commitment to go ahead with a 1.25 percentage point National Insurance increase in April.
The politicians have said the increase will tackle backlogs in the NHS caused by the pandemic and reform social care.
While chatting about Johnson and Sunak’s new joint article, Mason was quick to share his own interpretation.
The BBC presenter cheekily commented on the relationship between the two Conservative politicians.
The presenter remarked: “It’s always interesting when politicians do joint articles, isn’t it?
“I’ve been saying this morning it’s usually a sure-fire sign that they hate each other or they’re trying to claim that they’re best mates.
“I’m struck, Matt first of all, that in this article they say they’re going to put up tax and then in the next sentence they say they’re tax-cutting conservatives,” Mason commented.
“Oh you cynic, Chris. You cynic,” Chorley joked.
He continued: “You’re right, this article is the modern-day equivalent of when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown bought each other a Mr Whippy ice cream, I think.
“It’s sort of like, ‘No, we’re friends really. We’re all getting on very well.’
“The thing to remember is that this tax rise was only put in place last year because Rishi Sunak said, ‘Look, you can’t keep spending money that we don’t have’.
“There are reports in the Sunday Times today that he said, ‘We don’t promise the moon on a stick’.
“Well, I mean, promising the moon on a stick is Boris Johnson’s entire political strategy.
“So, we can probably chalk this up as a win by Rishi Sunak,” Chorley said.
He explained: “This week we had reports that Boris Johnson was wobbling, and wavering, and mulling, and poised to scrap this tax rise.
“The fact that it’s going ahead is a win for Rishi Sunak,” Chorley insisted.
“Like you said, it’s a very peculiar article that tries to at once claim to be tax-cutters while vowing to plough ahead with a tax rise,” he added.
Johnson and Sunak have said the National Insurance hike is being introduced in a bid to combat the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays at 6am on BBC One.
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