David Cameron is enduring one of the toughest periods in his tenure as prime minister – and the latest comments from one of his Conservative colleagues won’t do much to calm the offshore tax scandal situation.
Sir Alan Duncan, the millionaire Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton, used his House of Commons statement to offer an impassioned defence of his party’s leader, calling his critics “low achievers” who don’t understand wealth.
In a fiery address to MPs, he said:
“Shouldn’t the Prime Minister’s critics really just snap out of their synthetic indignation and admit that their real point is that they hate anyone who’s even got a hint of wealth in their life? May I support the Prime Minister in fending off those who are attacking him, particularly in thinking of this place? Because if he doesn’t, we risk seeing a House of Commons which is stuffed full of low achievers, who hate enterprise, hate people who look after their own family and who know absolute nothing about the outside world.”
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that it didn’t go down very well. Labour MP Caroline Flint said: “It saddens me that he seems to suggest if you weren’t a millionaire you were a low achiever.”
Labour’s Liz Kendall also criticised Sir Alan’s statement ‘cretinous’ on Twitter.
Cretinous comment from Alan Duncan you can only be a high achieve
— Liz Kendall (@leicesterliz) April 11, 2016
Obnoxious comment from Alan Duncan MP suggesting you can only be a high achiever if you make a packet of money
— Liz Kendall (@leicesterliz) April 11, 2016
And the backlash didn’t stop there. In fact, it arrived in an internet whirlwind.
Tory MP Alan Duncan describes the non-wealthy as "low achievers". Otherwise known as the people underpaid for keeping the country running.
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) April 11, 2016
I guess we should thank Alan Duncan for revealing what Tories truly think of ordinary people. #nastyparty
— Amy🌱🇪🇺💙 (@thisisamy_) April 11, 2016
Alan Duncan's analysis surely renders most soldiers, teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers and 'junior' doctors "low achievers"…
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) April 11, 2016
Alan Duncan has certainly earned the right to scorn all of us as "low achievers". I mean, consider all his huge accomplishments.
— Dan Rebellato (@DanRebellato) April 12, 2016
Good people of Rutland: at the next election, remember that your MP, Alan Duncan thinks that most of you are 'low achievers'.
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 12, 2016
The Alan Duncan guide to "low-achievers”:
Teachers
Nurses
The police
Firefighters
Soldiers
Jesus
Ghandi
Mozart
van Gogh
Rembrandt— David Schneider (@davidschneider) April 11, 2016
https://twitter.com/MissEllieMae/status/719581630504046592
Oh, so that's why people need foodbanks – they're low achievers who hate wealth. Thanks for that insight, Alan Duncan.
— Forårsnisse 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@Nissemus) April 11, 2016
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank his Tory ally, who is reportedly paid £8,000 a month for the the equivalent of 12 hours work as a non-executive chairman of an oil company in the Middle East.
He said:
“I’m very grateful for your support. We have a system of members’ interests, which was put in place at the end of 13 years of a Labour government.
I think we should maintain that system. I don’t want us to discourage people who have had a successful career in business or anything else in coming into this House and making a contribution, and that’s why I’ve said I think for prime ministers and chancellors, shadow prime ministers and shadow chancellors it’s a different set of arrangements.”
Sir Alan tweeted in response to critics of his comments, saying he didn’t make himself clear in the Commons.
Seems I could have been a little clearer in Parliament today. Success is of course not always the same as wealth (1/2)
— Sir Alan Duncan (@SirAlanDuncan) April 11, 2016
My point was that we shouldn't discourage people who've done well in business from entering Parliament by sniping at wealth per se (2/2)
— Sir Alan Duncan (@SirAlanDuncan) April 11, 2016
