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Rishi Sunak’s ‘weird’ staircase photo became an instant meme

Rishi Sunak’s ‘weird’ staircase photo became an instant meme

A pre-budget press photo featuring Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has been mocked by social users, describing it as “totally weird”.

The image, taken by the Press Association, sees Sunak on the stairs of Number 11, alongside other members of his Treasury team, such as Steve Barclay and Kemi Badenoch.

The Tory politician unveiled his economic plan for the country to MPs on Wednesday, and later to the public in a Downing Street press conference.

Speaking to the Commons, Sunak said: “This Budget meets the moment with a three-part plan to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people.

Meanwhile, Labour criticised the proposals as a budget which “papered over the cracks”.

“A Budget that shows the government doesn’t understand what went wrong in the last decade or what’s needed in the next,” said the party’s leader, Sir Kier Starmer.

As the press photograph was released online, Twitter users were quick to mock its framing and the jokes really did write themselves.

Others spotted some potential optical illusions:

While some hoped that Cold War Steve, a Twitter account known for Photoshopped political collages, would make one of the snap:

Sunak may have wanted to ‘step up’ to the challenge of a coronavirus budget for the year ahead, but it appears some aren’t convinced.

More: The pandemic’s hidden crisis: Has Covid caused an increase in ‘hard drug’ use?

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