While the British, like the French, are facing energy price inflation and forced to restrict their consumption, the Prime Minister has seen things big on his property in North Yorkshire. As revealed by The Guardian on Sunday, Rishi Sunak has built a new heated swimming pool, gym and tennis court on his grounds. An initiative that resulted in an upgrade of the local power grid to cope with the overload of this equipment.
Rishi Sunak had acquired this vast property that he occasionally occupies for 1.7 million euros in 2015. The heated pool was built on unoccupied farmland, close to his mansion. According to the Guardian, the British Prime Minister used his personal funds for the construction and "will personally bear the cost of the work to improve the electricity network, estimated at several tens of thousands of pounds, in addition to the cost of energy consumption caused by the pool".
Municipal swimming pools closing
Rishi Sunak would not have used his political status to benefit from a boost from Northern Powergrid, the operator of the local electricity grid. But this news still makes cringe across the Channel. Indeed, many municipal swimming pools have been forced to reduce their opening hours, or even close their doors because of the energy bill.
UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced that aid to businesses for energy costs would be cut in March. But a House of Commons committee has called on the government to take into account the difficult situation of swimming pools in the vote on its next budget.
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- United Kingdom
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- Rishi Sunak
- Energy
- Inflation