Rishi Sunak: I didn’t call for England to ‘break away’ from UK

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has denied reports that he has privately called for England to “break away” from the Union because “it doesn’t make financial sense”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak speaking at a media briefing in Downing Street on Coronavirus

In a profile of Mr Sunak published by the Financial Times, an unnamed Conservative Party source claims the Chancellor had advocated for “the end of the UK”.

“He doesn’t have any love for the institution and I suspect he looks at it as he looks at anything: what’s the profit?” the source is quoted as saying.

In a post on twitter, Mr Sunak said the comments were “falsely attributed” to him.

“My parents moved to the United Kingdom, not England, because the Union represented an idea of opportunity. I am a strong believer in our union of four nations. Hope that clarifies that!”

In the past month, the Chancellor has announced well over a third of a trillion pounds of support for business across the UK in response to the coronavirus outbreak.