It’s (sadly) Vincent Browne’s last week on our screens and last night, he invited our new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on the show to talk about everything from Brexit to the health service.
While it had been billed as the ultimate head-to-head, the general consensus is that Vincent could have taken a firmer hand during the debate but there’s one exchange in particular that has everyone talking.
During the recent election campaign, Leo famously said he wanted to represent those who “get up early in the morning” and the veteran presenter tackled him on exactly what he meant by the comment.
Leo’s response was to claim that 70% of people in Ireland identify as “middle class”, including many of those on minimum wage, and it is this group that he hopes to represent.
VIDEO: Taoiseach discusses the meaning of “middle class” #vinb pic.twitter.com/xgGL0kwsM8
— The Tonight Show (@TonightVMT) July 26, 2017
Leo @campaignforleo said 70% of Ireland considers itself to be middle class. Same stats say 12% of us are unemployed. Goose & Gander #vinb
— John Fitzpatrick (@JFTAXI) July 26, 2017
If you don’t earn 40/80k it’s ok. You can still be middle class on minimum wage. Now that’s equal opportunity ! Thank you #LeoActually #vinb
— Foghorn (@ForghornLeghorn) July 26, 2017
Apparently my poor ass has been middle class this whole time and I didn’t even know it thank god Leo cleared that up for me #vinb
— TK MARX (@sonofedge) July 26, 2017
During the chat, he also vowed to increase social housing stock by a third and revealed that he outlined a plan to save the health service during his time as Minister For Health but “received no reply”.
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