Facts

In her column for The Times, Katy Balls quotes a senior government figure who told her that “a lot of people are worried about the future and AI. Starmer is old. Rishi gets it.” 

In this statement, the government official is referring to the fact that Rishi Sunak is 43 and Keir Starmer is 60. 

Last year a video of Rishi Sunak, unable to use his contactless card, went viral across social media. Sunak was filmed waving his debit card in front of a cashier before he confusingly held it in front of the worker’s barcode scanner.

Verdict

The anonymous “senior government figure” quoted by the Times is being generous when she claims that Rishi Sunak “gets it”. Notoriously, Mr Sunak had difficulty using his contactless card. 

We emailed the Cabinet Office offering them the chance to respond. We are yet to receive a reply. 

Additional Note Times political columnist Katy Balls here crosses the line between dispassionate analysis and partisan journalism. There is no clue to the identity of the mysterious ‘senior government figure’ claiming that “Starmer is old. Rishi gets it.” This anonymous quote is a political jibe against Starmer, as the context of the column confirms. For balance, Katy Balls could have mentioned Sunak’s credit card mishap, but failed to do so. 

We reached out to Katy Balls through the Spectator to give her a chance to respond. We are yet to receive a reply.