Sunak vows he WILL tackle ‘unacceptable’ accommodation for hero veterans after being grilled by Sun Cabinet
RISHI Sunak last night vowed to tackle "unacceptable" accommodation for hero veterans and soldiers.
The PM was grilled by The Sun Cabinet over the scandal of former and current service people living in decrepit housing blocks.
On our new show Never Mind The Ballots, Sun reader and our Cabinet Defence Secretary Hugh Andree issued a direct plea to Mr Sunak.
The 50-year-old vet, who served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, said: "Prime Minister, is it acceptable that we currently have serving members of the armed forces showering at carparks in RAF bases whilst there is no hot water or heating in their accommodation blocks and they’re continuing to be charged for it?
In a no-holds barred grilling, the Prime Minister also:
- ANSWERED your quickfire questions
- INVITED Boris Johnson to rally Tory troops in election battle
- VOWED to quit Euro court if needed to stop the boats
- STILL didn't know when general election will be
- CLASHED with fuming cabbie over small boats crisis
- DENIED claims homeless people will be fined for being smelly
- INSISTED his plan IS working as he hailed tax cuts
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"It’s bringing down morale."
Mr Sunak immediately replied: "No."
RISHI TACKLES YOUR QUESTIONS
RISHI Sunak faced Sun readers this Wednesday in a no-holds-barred grilling.
The PM was quizzed by Political Editor Harry Cole — two weeks after Sir Keir Starmer's appearance on our Never Mind the Ballots show
And he answered YOUR questions:
Are your trousers too short?
When asked why he wears his trousers up to two inches too short, he laughed: "Well I don't think they are that short."
Pushed on whether he thought his style was trendy or the latest style, he added: "I tend not to like lots of baggy, baggy stuff at the bottom of my ankle. I don't think they are that short."
What is your Wetherspoons order?
The PM was also asked when he last went to one of the nation's favourite pub chains Wetherspoons.
He said: "I was in Wetherspoons actually not that long ago. I think it was in Rother Valley actually… doing one of my events talking to everyone there in the local community.
"We have a Wetherspoons at home in Northallerton which is fantastic."
When asked what his go-to order is, he said: "Well, actually I used to go there with my kids in the old days when I had more time.
"We used to do the junior Park Run, from memory. But we'd go there for breakfast more than anything else, cos I used to like the breakfasts there. I think I probably still have the app on my phone."
Do your daughters have a smartphone?
He revealed that his two girls Krishna and Anoushka both got phones as they came to the end of their time at Primary School.
But both the PM and his wife Akshata discuss how to "juggle" about the right thing to do with their time on the devices.
When asked whether the girls have smartphones, he said: "Yeah. I have two girls 11 and 12, about to be 13, who thankfully probably won't be watching this.
"They do both have phones. And they got them near the end of Primary School.
"I talked to my wife about this a lot. And we're trying to juggle that like all parents are. I'm forming my views about what the right to do with my wife."
His comments come as some of his MPs are demanding an outright ban on smartphones for under-16s.
The mum of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey demands mobile phones should be made specifically for under-16s to protect them.
Brianna was stabbed 28 times in February last year and was described as anxious and vulnerable - with her family insisting this was partly due to the time with her phone.
The PM added: "I think we certainly need to be very cognisant of the impact that social media is having on young people.
"You seen the rise in mental health. And there's not a definitive link. But there's lots of people saying you need to be careful about this.
"Obviously it's distracting at schools which is why we've been much clearer now that people should not be having mobile phones in schools obviously."
Cabinet Minister Michelle Donelan said the recent online safety laws "ensures the online safety of British society not only now, but for decades to come".
He added: "At home what I’m dealing with is making sure those who are serving and those who have served are getting the treatment that they deserve back from us.
"That’s making sure that their accommodation is right, that we look after them after they’ve left the forces, but crucially that we also see veterans as an incredible asset to our country."
Since leaving the army father of two Hugh, from Battersea, South West London, has helped 4,000 veterans into work as co-founder and CEO of ForceSelect, set up with General Sir Mike Jackson and ex-SAS man Andy McNab.
He regularly hears from vets about crises in accommodation and mental health.
The PM admitted to The Sun's Defence Secretary that ex-personnel are experiencing issues that need addressing.
He said: "It’s about making sure we expand employment opportunities for veterans and make sure businesses realise what a fantastic group of people they’ve got who can bring so much to their workforces, as well as addressing some of the issues that need addressing."
Mr Sunak vowed that he wants to make Britain the "best place in the world to be a veteran".
"We need to make sure we look after our veterans properly and do the world’s best job at doing that," he said.
"It’s something I want to deliver as PM."
Elsewhere, Mr Sunk came under fire from an angry London cabbie over the small boats crisis - demanding he use the Navy to tow migrants back to France.
Grant Davis - who is the Sun Cabinet's Transport Secretary - took the PM to task during our show Never Mind The Ballots.
Confronting Mr Sunak directly, he said: "I’m a London cabbie, I speak to my passengers all the time... and the one transport issue that people in the back of my taxi talk to me about a lot of the time is the transport from Calais to Dover in small boats."
He went on: "Why can’t you put the Navy in the Channel so when the dinghies come over, you pull up, tow them back to Calais and say no thank you.
“If you want to send a message to the organised gangs bringing people over, that’s how you do it."
However the Sun's Defence Secretary Hugh Andree said that would represent a breach of France's sovereignty.
Mr Sunak said he shared the "frustration" of many Brits at the relentless Channel crossings that have already surged passed 5,000 migrants this year.
But he said "turn-back" tactics as used successfully by Australia was too dangerous because the dinghies are more flimsy.
He said: "What they were dealing with were very big boats in international waters.
"Where you're talking about an inflatable dinghy, where these gangs stuff dozens more people than they can take."
Vowing to “get this thing done”, Mr Sunak said: “On this I’ve been very clear. I believe that our scheme - including the Rwanda part of it - is compliant with all our international obligations, including with the ECHR.
“But I believe that border security and controlling illegal migration is more important than our membership of any foreign court.”
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When pressed by political editor Harry Cole, the PM said it was “fundamental to our sovereignty as a country” and did not rule out making it an election pledge.