Yahoo Finance What does Rishi’s Budget ‘pre-game’ — a Twix and a can of Sprite — reveal about him?
So, just how many fillings does Rishi Sunak have and will his teeth make it beyond tomorrow’s Budget? The Chancellor reveals this week that his general “pre-game routine” for doing “parliamentary things” like delivering a Budget is to have a Twix and a can of Sprite, calling it an “immediate ...booster”. He’ll have both on hand before he raises his red box this week; dentists, identify yourself.
To be fair, Sunak’s job is to do the sums so I’m sure he knows that this is — combined — a snack attack of more than 20g of sugar. And hey, no judgment: there was a time in my hungover early twenties where my pre-work routine was a bag of salt and vinegar McCoys and a short cry; we all do what we need to survive. Still, given that as the Chancellor (and an MP) he’s presumably often doing “parliamentary things”, you’ve got to worry about those molars.
Can we divine anything about Sunak’s plans for the public finances from his admission? Probably not. I suppose he might not be so keen on further sugar taxes — although his own net worth has been estimated at £200 million, so presumably he wouldn’t struggle to pay for his habit.
It does serve as further insight into a man who seems to thrive on structure and ritual. He famously starts his day with a 6am Peloton class. “You do have to listen to a lot of Britney,” he observed. “But you know, no bad thing in trying to get you motivated, I guess.” It’s Rishi, bitch? It’s definitely more than a little bit Patrick Bateman; on which theme, Sunak once told assembled journalists he was a “total Coke addict” — whoah! — although swiftly clarified he meant the drink.
A snack food ritual is at least far more humanising than the Peloton addiction. Ultimately, few of us are on our bikes at 6am but superstition is (fairly) universal — from football fans refusing to wash “lucky” shirts to students clinging to lucky teddies as they file into exam halls. When I write, I have a rule that dictates I cannot start working unless it’s on a round hour or half hour. This doesn’t get me anywhere apart from closer to my deadline before I’ve even started a single sentence but it is a vain bid for control in an uncontrollable world.
Ritual likely implies Sunak is an overthinker, which is probably something you want in a Chancellor — and definitely serves as counterpoint to his boss, who, despite being PM, hasn’t yet managed the “ritual” of “getting dressed appropriately” (see: a button-down shirt for his morning jog). Still, I do wonder if a sugar rush is quite what you need to deliver a Budget in style. Rishi, have you ever heard of Goop?
In other news...
The credits were longer than Zendaya’s camera time in Dune
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune, the Frank Herbert sci-fi novel, has inspired a frenzy thanks in large part to its headline acts, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet, who have spent the last month on a glossy round-the-world promo trip, appearing on red carpets in futuristic tailoring, charisma fizzing from every atom.
What a disappointment then, to discover that Zendaya in fact appears in the film for only seven minutes; the whole thing runs to two hours and 35. “The credits were longer than Zendaya’s camera time in Dune,” complained one viewer; “Dune better get a sequel the way Zendaya has been put to work for the promo,” observed another.
I suppose young female stars must do their bit as polished promo ponies, even if their actual role is essentially that of a glorified extra. Cynical? Hollywood?
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