Rishi Sunak tells Yorkshire schoolchildren his 'biggest fear' is getting coronavirus response wrong

On a visit to Pickhill Church of England Primary School near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, while on a visit to his Richmond constituency, Mr Sunak said he had not expected to become Chancellor in February and had found it "stressful" to make decisions which affected the whole country.

But under questions from the schoolchildren he said the job was a "privilege".

Mr Sunak was taken on a tour of the grounds of the school which has won a prestigious Green Flag accolade for its environmental work, before toasting marshmallows over an open fire to make s’mores.

He then faced a question and answer session with pupils who asked him about Boris Johnson’s dog, environmental issues and how he was going to pay for the cost of Covid-19.

Mr Sunak told pupils: “Being made Chancellor was a big surprise, I really wasn’t expecting it, and it is a real privilege.

“This has been a very difficult time and I have had to make a lot of decisions that affect the whole country, which has been stressful.

“My biggest fear is getting it wrong.”

He said his job was to find how to raise almost a trillion pounds a year and then decide how best to spend it.

During the visit last Friday, he said: “People ask me for money and I have to decide whether they can have it, it’s so important to get the balance right.”

He said, on the environment, Mr Johnson loved cycling and was creating more lanes to keep people out of their cars.

The Government was also trying to ensure the country had the right technology in place to cut the reliance on fossil fuels and had created a fund to plant millions of trees to absorb carbon.

“We don’t have as much money as we would like at the moment and can’t keeping borrowing,” he said.

“So we have to find ways to help us borrow less while still making sure we have enough money to do the things we want to do.”

On the Prime Minister, he told pupils: “I see him every day and he is my friend as well as my boss.

“He is great; a lot of fun.

“I live next door at No 11 Downing Street and my two daughters play with his dog Dilyn.”

Head teacher Rowena Sykes said: “I was so proud of the children’s questioning, in fact I thought their questions were better than the ones you hear on the news.

“It’s not every day that the children get to take a selfie with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and I think the whole experience is one they will remember for the rest of their lives.”