LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has spoken of his motivation to take the top job at 10 Downing Street following the intense political unrest of the past year as his “dharma”.
In a TV interview with ‘Talk TV’ host Piers Morgan at his Downing Street home to mark 100 days as Britain’s first Indian-born Prime Minister on Thursday, he was asked what prompted him to take on the difficult task amid crippling cost. unrest crisis and his predecessor Liz Truss’ shortest term as prime minister at just 45 days.
“For me, it’s a matter of duty. There is a concept in Hinduism called dharma, which roughly translates to duty and that is how I was brought up. It was about doing the things that were expected of you and trying to do the right thing,” he replied.
“Even though it was going to be a nightmarish job…I felt like I could make a difference and I was the best person to make a difference at the time, especially given the challenges people were facing, what they were seeing with their mortgages and that’s ultimately why I set out to do this knowing it would be difficult and challenging but ultimately doing what was my duty in this situation I deeply believe in service and thought I could do a difference for the country,” he said.
The 42-year-old, who took the oath of allegiance on being elected MP to the House of Commons on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, has often spoken of his Hindu faith which gives him strength.
The UK-born son of National Health Service (NHS) doctor Yashveer and pharmacist Usha spoke of regular temple visits with his family and during last year’s leadership campaign he took the time to visit a Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of London for Janmashtami to seek blessings.
In this week’s wide-ranging interview, he also referred to his wife Akshata – the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy – as his support system and admitted that he “beats above her average” with her as a life partner.
He revealed how he romantically proposed to her, getting on his knees, and praised “the support she gives me in this job”.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this work without her love and support to continue,” he said.
Asked about the “mantra” the British audience might hang on, he added: “Have hope because I can improve it and I will improve it. This is what I work for day and night. »
Morgan also asked him about his personal wealth and he reiterated an earlier pledge to publish his tax returns in the interest of “transparency”.
“They [tax returns] will be published soon. As you know, the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago…they will be released shortly,” he said.
On the wave of public sector strikes over pay, Sunak said he “would love to give nurses a massive pay rise”, but stressed he couldn’t because it would fuel inflation.
“Even if it’s not popular, it’s the right thing for the country to stay the course to defeat inflation,” he said.
In a TV interview with ‘Talk TV’ host Piers Morgan at his Downing Street home to mark 100 days as Britain’s first Indian-born Prime Minister on Thursday, he was asked what prompted him to take on the difficult task amid crippling cost. unrest crisis and his predecessor Liz Truss’ shortest term as prime minister at just 45 days.
“For me, it’s a matter of duty. There is a concept in Hinduism called dharma, which roughly translates to duty and that is how I was brought up. It was about doing the things that were expected of you and trying to do the right thing,” he replied.
“Even though it was going to be a nightmarish job…I felt like I could make a difference and I was the best person to make a difference at the time, especially given the challenges people were facing, what they were seeing with their mortgages and that’s ultimately why I set out to do this knowing it would be difficult and challenging but ultimately doing what was my duty in this situation I deeply believe in service and thought I could do a difference for the country,” he said.
The 42-year-old, who took the oath of allegiance on being elected MP to the House of Commons on the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, has often spoken of his Hindu faith which gives him strength.
The UK-born son of National Health Service (NHS) doctor Yashveer and pharmacist Usha spoke of regular temple visits with his family and during last year’s leadership campaign he took the time to visit a Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of London for Janmashtami to seek blessings.
In this week’s wide-ranging interview, he also referred to his wife Akshata – the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy – as his support system and admitted that he “beats above her average” with her as a life partner.
He revealed how he romantically proposed to her, getting on his knees, and praised “the support she gives me in this job”.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this work without her love and support to continue,” he said.
Asked about the “mantra” the British audience might hang on, he added: “Have hope because I can improve it and I will improve it. This is what I work for day and night. »
Morgan also asked him about his personal wealth and he reiterated an earlier pledge to publish his tax returns in the interest of “transparency”.
“They [tax returns] will be published soon. As you know, the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago…they will be released shortly,” he said.
On the wave of public sector strikes over pay, Sunak said he “would love to give nurses a massive pay rise”, but stressed he couldn’t because it would fuel inflation.
“Even if it’s not popular, it’s the right thing for the country to stay the course to defeat inflation,” he said.
