Rishi ‘not a betting man’ Sunak was undone by his own words and it’s odds-on today’s most satisfying thing
You’ll know by now how Rishi Sunak made a spectacular misjudgement on just about every level by accepting at £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan that his Rwanda policy would finally take off.
Here he is on Morgan’s Talk TV show on Monday night.
Rishi Sunak has accepted a £1,000 bet from Piers Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda will be up and running before the General Election.
The full interview is due to be shown on the Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel at 2pm and TalkTV at 8pm on Monday (5 February). pic.twitter.com/RcF49sSrfM
— The Independent (@Independent) February 5, 2024
And here is the prime minister on 5 Live on Tuesday morning – in the wake of a wave of revulsion that he would make a bet about this sort of thing – trying to explain that he was taken by surprise because he’s just not a betting kind of guy.
Rachel Burden: You shook hands on a £1000 bet with Piers Morgan over the Rwanda scheme… a lot of our listeners found that offensive?
Rishi Sunak: "I was taken totally by surprise.."
RB: was it a mistake to shake his hand then?
RS: No…#BBCBreakfast pic.twitter.com/R2LMRatIzq
— Haggis_UK (@Haggis_UK) February 6, 2024
And there were two things to say about that.
One – that being taken by surprise and reacting badly in the heat of the moment doesn’t exactly sound like prime ministerial material.
Cue estimable Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov who uncovered this clip of Sunak talking on Radio 4’s Test Match Special and you’ll never guess (you absolutely will) what happens next!
Here's Rishi Sunak, who this morning claimed that "I'm not a betting man" in order to distance himself from his £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan… boasting about his love of spread betting. pic.twitter.com/MVKd3qYQnv
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 6, 2024
Maybe it was a different Rishi Sunak?
And here’s exactly what people made of that.
"It was while doing my job as a professional gambler of stocks and shares, that I discovered I enjoyed gambling on sport too. Although I'm not a betting man." https://t.co/zLJUEp4VTa
— HENRY MORRIS (@mrhenrymorris) February 6, 2024
Oh dear https://t.co/9Lu0rjaLU5
— Otto English (@Otto_English) February 6, 2024
Well, well, well https://t.co/gF2KviQ7OM
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) February 6, 2024
So fucking busted. They just can't help themselves, can they. https://t.co/CB2zpELxUk
— Johnny Nice Painter (@JNicePainter) February 6, 2024
He is just so, so bad at this https://t.co/fuPj4VCdbH
— Enough Of That Now (@AndyGilder) February 6, 2024
Man who doesn’t like betting…
1. Bet on the misery of working people during the Financial Crisis
2. Bet £1000 he could send some of the most vulnerable people on Earth – against their will – to Rwanda
3. Bets we’re all stupid enough to vote for his cruel, corrupt party https://t.co/3OphwnZcPL— Robbie Scowls (@RScowler) February 6, 2024
Follow @AdamBienkov here!
Source @AdamBienkov
