Politics

Rishi Sunak admits that he didn't know how to use contactless payment machines

Rishi Sunak admits that he didn't know how to use contactless payment machines
Rishi Sunak struggles to use contactless payment in awkward clip
Indy

Remember a few months ago when a clip of Rishi Sunak struggling to use a contactless payment machine at a Sainsbury's petrol station went viral?

Well, it turns out that there wasn't anything wrong with the machine or the card at all. It was just that Sunak, who was the chancellor of the exchequer at the time genuinely didn't know how contactless payments were made.

Sunak, who is currently trailing Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest, made the startling admission at a hustings event in Darlington on Tuesday.

After being asked about the clip the 42-year-old said: "The most embarrassing thing that's happened to me is I struggled to pay for the petrol in a car that wasn't my own.

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"Right? So I think you all know about that, right? And since then someone's taught me how to use that contactless machine. And I tell you, it's an amazing modern marvel this technology these days!"

Nothing to be worried about there then folks, just the man who wants to be the next prime minister being completely unfamiliar with a piece of technology that has been around since 2008.

At the time Sunak was promoting a 5p fuel duty cut but since then the cost of petrol has actually risen from £1.63 to £1.89 a litre as the cost of living crisis has deepened.

The Tory MP for Richmond has tried to promote himself as a 'man of the people' despite his proclivity for more expensive items and having a wealthy wife.

Sunak tried to clear this up on Tuesday by saying: "I wasn’t born like this. My parents worked really hard to provide me with all these opportunities. I’m not going to apologise for what they did for me.

And in fact that’s why I want to do this job, because I want to provide those opportunities for everyone else. I think in our country we judge people not by their bank account, we judge them by their character and their actions.”

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