George Osborne – The Chancellor -probably the second most powerful politician in the country. And a prize turnip, too.
He was asked, by a seven year old boy:
What’s seven times eight
Our intrepid leader refused to answer, replying:
I’ve made it a rule in life not to answer a whole load of maths questions
It’s hardly differential equations, George. It’s not trigonometry or parametric equations, it’s basic arithmetic.
What message does it send out to the public, to our pupils, when a senior politician refuses to answer such a simple question? It says that maths is hard, and that it is OK to be “bad at maths”. It isn’t and it’s not.
Oh, and if you are reading this George, the answer is 56.
Think I’m making this up, surely it can’t be true? You can watch it for yourself below.
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