Sunak has a major blindspot

In his interview with Piers Morgan to mark his first 100 days in office, Rishi Sunak sidestepped the question about whether he had profited from the share price rise of Covid vaccine maker Moderna by saying that the money was in a blind trust, meaning that he had no control in it. That answer says so much more about Sunak’s style of leadership and concept of responsibility than maybe he recognises.

Being the beneficiary of a blind trust means that you seek to gain all the benefits of the ends without having to worry about the detail of the means. It only protects you from a conflict of interest if you believe in the maxim of don’t ask, don’t tell.

As has become clear with his handling of Nadhim Zahawi and Dominic Raab, Sunak runs his government like a blind trust. At a time when vulnerable people are having their homes broken into to force a switch to prepayment meters, and abused people are being told that it is their responsibility not to give money to people traffickers, it is telling that the prime minister believes that in his case not knowing how you benefit from something absolves you of the ultimate responsibility of recognising how you did it.

Gary Wiltshire Isle of Mull