‘He can keep £1million and donate the other £729m to charity then’: Online critics dismiss multi-millionaire Rishi Sunak’s call for the well-off to donate their £400 energy bill handouts to charity
- Mega-rich Chancellor, who with wife is worth £730m, will donate bills handout
- Sunak will receive around £1,200 as he owns three homes qualifying for £400
- But not all are impressed by his generosity – as he encouraged others to join him
- One wrote: ‘Why is a multi-millionaire getting a £400 rebate anyway?’
- Another tweeted: ‘I suggest he keeps £1m and gives the other £729m to charity’
Rishi Sunak was roundly mocked online after pledging to donate his estimated £1,200 bills handout to charity – despite being worth £730million.
The super-wealthy Chancellor of the Exchequer urged other well-heeled Brits to hand the £400 state payment per property to charity.
Asked about his intentions on ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier today, Mr Sunak said: ‘I’m sure you will join me in giving that money to charity.’
Mr Sunak is believed to own three homes in the UK, including a house and a flat in central London and a sprawling estate in his Yorkshire constituency.
Rishi Sunak is pictured with wife Akshata Murthy at a British Museum dinner in February
Yet not all were impressed by the mega-rich Chancellor’s donation vow – and took to Twitter
A university professor sarcastically described Mr Sunak’s offer as ‘very generous’
That would potentially give a £1,200 benefit.
He is also estimated to own shares in a further nine properties in the UK and abroad.
But not all were impressed by Mr Sunak’s donation vow, with critics taking to Twitter to express their ire.
User OwsWillis wrote: ‘That’s nice, but why is a multi-millionaire getting a £400 rebate on each of his (estimated) 12 houses anyway?!
‘This isn’t *his* money to give to charity, it’s £4,800 that belongs in the public purse.’
The £21billion bailout unveiled by Mr Sunak yesterday includes £400 towards energy bills for all 28million households in the country.
But the subsidy will be applied to properties rather than individuals, so those with multiple homes could rack up significantly higher savings.
The Chancellor and his wife, Akshata Murthy, are estimated to be worth £730million, according to The Sunday Times’ Rich List.
Twitter user @catrolio added: ‘I suggest he keeps £1m and donates the other £729m to charity then. #CostOfLivingCrisis’
One Twitter user called on the Sunaks to donate much more than just £1,200 to charity
User Haward Soper said the Chancellor is a ‘philanthropist’, with tongue firmly in cheek
Another suggested means-testing the scheme: ‘I reckon billionaires are probably going to be ok’
Professor Paul Bernal added: ‘It’s very generous of Rishi Sunak to say he’ll give his £400 rebate to charity. In other news, Rishi Sunak and his wife have a combined wealth of £730 million.’
And tweeter @chaward sarcastically chimed in: ‘The philanthropist @RishiSunak says he’ll give £400 per household to charity. Very nice of him. He’ll then get a £180 tax reduction for each of his several houses.’
Scottie P added: ‘Maybe they should means test it so more goes to those who really need it in the first place, cause I reckon billionaires are probably going to be ok.’
Boris Johnson earlier suggested he won’t benefit personally from the Government’s energy bills handout, despite owning more than one property.
The Prime Minister insisted his ‘arrangements are different’ to those of the Chancellor.
Boris Johnson’s properties are all listed as being rented out while he uses official residences in Downing Street and at Chequers – where he does not directly pay utility bills
Asked if he would follow the Chancellor’s lead in donating payments to charity, the PM suggested he wouldn’t be benefiting from the energy bills handout.
‘My arrangements are different because I live in a Government flat,’ he told reporters during a visit to Stockton-on-Tees.
According to Parliament’s register of interests, Mr Johnson has a 20 per cent share in a property in Somerset, a 50 per cent share in a property in London, and owns a home in Oxfordshire.
But they are all listed as being rented out while he uses official residences in Downing Street and at Chequers – and he does not directly pay utility bills.
The Chancellor has not registered any rental income from his UK property portfolio.
Rishi Sunak – who recently featured on the Sunday Times Rich List with heiress wife Akshata Murty – urged people who do not need the money to ‘join me’ in giving energy bill handouts to good causes
Mr Sunak is believed to own three homes in the UK, including a house and a flat in central London and a sprawling estate in his Yorkshire constituency (pictured)
He was also reported to have moved out of his official residence in Downing Street last month in the wake of the controversy over his family’s tax affairs.
Justifying the way the new cost-of-living support was being delivered to all households rather than just the poorest, the Chancellor said there are only a couple of ‘practical’ ways of delivering payments, either universally or through the council tax system, which could exclude some deserving individuals.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘Second homes account for one or two per cent of the property stock.’
Mr Sunak said there are only a couple of ‘practical’ ways of delivering payments, either universally or through the council tax system, which could exclude some deserving individuals
An estimated 770,000 households own two homes that are not routinely rented out, and 60,000 have three.
The Chancellor, aged 42, recently became the first frontline politician to be named in the Sunday Times Rich List together with his wife.
The couple are credited with a joint fortune of £730million, putting them at 222 in the top 250 richest people in the UK.
Ms Murty owns a £430million stake in her Indian tech billionaire father’s IT business, and was recently embroiled in a row over having non-dom tax status.
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