As Rishi Sunak Preps For UK Budget, A Row Over Tea Break Brews On Twitter

Rishi Sunak, UK's newly-appointed Indian-origin Finance Minister and the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy is prepping to present his first budget next month. On Friday, he tweeted a photo of him brewing tea for his team in between meetings.

"Budget prep break making tea for the team. Nothing like a good Yorkshire brew," Mr Sunak, 39, tweeted, with a photo of him holding a kettle and standing next to a jumbo bag of Yorkshire Tea, a popular British tea brand.

In no time, several Twitter users responded, taking on the banker-turned-politician, for what they saw as brand endorsement.

Quick Budget prep break making tea for the team. Nothing like a good Yorkshire brew. pic.twitter.com/zhoQM9Ksho

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 21, 2020

"How much are Yorkshire Tea sponsoring you by?... You're a millionaire, you don't need the money. I can't believe that they are using you to endorse their products. I'm never going to buy Yorkshire Tea again. Companies should not show political bias. Back to PG Tips & Tetleys," a user wrote.

"Does @yorkshiretea back this or I may have to stop buying it," another person tweeted.

The tea brand tweeted a comeback, saying people of all political stripes like their brew and that they would rather stay away from the subject.

Nothing to do with us - people of all political stripes like our brew.

Plus there's no way we'd intentionally stick ourselves in a Twitter storm on a Friday afternoon. It's nearly hometime!

— Yorkshire Tea (@YorkshireTea) February 21, 2020

Rishi Sunak, 39, was appointed as the UK's new finance minister earlier this month by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a cabinet reshuffle after Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid resigned from the post. Mr Javid's resignation was seen as a shock move in one of the biggest shakeups since Boris Johnson won a thumping majority in the December 2019 general election.

Mr Sunak then joined the top government bench as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, taking charge of the second most important government position as the finance minister.

Mr Sunak will present the budget on March 11. Following suggestions that the budget could be delayed to give him more time to prepare for the key event, Mr Sunak had said that the annual update on government tax and spend plans "will deliver on the promises we made to the British people -- levelling up and unleashing the country's potential".

The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire, married to Narayana Murthy's daughter Akshata, first entered the UK parliament in 2015 and has fast risen up the Conservative Party ranks as a staunch Brexiteer who had backed Boris Johnson's strategy to leave the European Union (EU).

The UK-born son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father is an Oxford University and Stanford graduate.