“I can’t imagine how anyone could say £100,000 is not a huge amount,” adds the 34-year-old former Turkish reporter, who runs the Journalist, a cafe on Godalming’s High Street right in the heart of Hunt’s Surrey constituency. “The annual profit from my whole cafe isn’t close to £100,000.”
“Politicians like to tell us that they are in it with us,” Topaloğlu says. “But if he can say that, it shows he doesn’t know what life is like for many of us living on a lot, lot less than £100,000.”
Hunt, who has been the MP for South West Surrey since 2005, made the comments in response to a call from a constituent living in the market town who had complained that the government’s free childcare scheme was not available to families with a parent earning more than £100,000.
“That is an issue I would really like to sort out after the next election as I am aware that it is not [a] huge salary in our area if you have a mortgage to pay,” the chancellor said on X.
Opposition MPs, campaigners and pundits immediately criticised Hunt as being out of touch and pointed out that the average UK full-time salary, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), was £34,963 and anything higher than £81,357 put a person in the top 5% of earners. Estimates by the consultancy Electoral Calculus put the median salary in the constituency at £56,606, in Godalming (population: 23,000) the average is about £34,000, according to the town council.
When challenged further this week, Hunt said: “What sounds like a large salary – when you have house prices averaging around £670,000 in my area and you’ve got a mortgage and childcare costs – it doesn’t go as far as you might think.”
This story is from the March 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Bayern mull shock reprieve for Tuchel as options tail off
Bayern Munich are prepared to perform a dramatic U-turn on Thomas Tuchel after encountering problems in their attempts to replace him.
Palmer's header leads Blues towards Europe
Perhaps Mauricio Pochettino is onto something after all? A fourth successive victory thanks to Cole Palmer's 27th goal of the season and another from substitute Christopher Nkunku was the latest indication that Chelsea's road to recovery is gathering pace despite a mindless late red card for captain Reece James.
Højlund comes off bench to settle see-saw battle
Manchester United are up to 57 points, the same as Newcastle United, who headed back to the north-east pondering precisely how they lost a toe-to-toe contest played out at breakneck speed.
Guardiola's nerves: 'I suffered from minute one'
Manchester City have come to embody clinical success, but emotion was everywhere during crucial win at Spurs
McIlroy returns to scene of last major win in form and untroubled by noise
World No 2 triumphed in Louisville in 2014 and goes into this year's tournament on the back of two victories
Raspberry Pi lifts London market with plans for UK flotation
The Cambridge-based technology company Raspberry Pi has confirmed its intention to float in the UK, in a significant boost to the London Stock Exchange.
Australia's richest woman calls on gallery to remove her portrait
The mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove her portrait from an exhibition by the award-winning artist Vincent Namatjira.
Manhunt intensifies in France as officers killed in ambush named
Two French prison officers who were shot dead in an ambush that freed a convict linked to gangland drug killings were named yesterday, as police continued a massive hunt for the fugitive.
Georgia 'returning to the past', with anti-western law
Georgia is \"returning to the past\" through the new foreign agents law, the president of the former Soviet state said yesterday, as EU ministers urged the government to \"take a way out\".
Relations between Egypt and Israel worsen over Rafah
Israel and Egypt were embroiled in a diplomatic row over the Rafah border crossing yesterday amid warnings that Cairo could be planning to downgrade relations between the two countries.