Simon Pegg has slammed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to make arithmetic compulsory.
The Hollywood actor, who called the Prime Minister a “p***k” and urged his supporters to vote the Tories out in the next election, underlined his displeasure with Sunak’s proposed policy to make arithmetic compulsory for all English students until the age of 18.
Sunak’s idea would only be implemented if the Conservative Party won the next election, but that didn’t stop Pegg from dismissing it.
‘So, Rishi Sunak, our unmandated, unelected Prime Minister thrice removed, has decided that it should be compulsory for youngsters to learn math up until the age of 18,’ the Shaun of the Dead star stated in a now-expired video posted to his Instagram Stories on Wednesday. What a jerk!’
‘What about arts and humanities, and fostering this county’s amazing reputation for creativity and self-expression?’ said Pegg, 52. What about that?’
The Mission Impossible actor added: ‘What about the kids that don’t want to do maths? I hated maths! I dropped maths as soon as I could. I’ve never needed it other than the skill set I acquired at the age 12.’
Signing off his post, Pegg said: ‘No, Rishi Sunak wants a f*****g drone army of data-entering robots.
‘What a t****r! F**k the Tories! Get rid of them, please. F**k! F**k you Rishi Sunak and f**k the Tories!’
Sunak used his first speech of 2023 to unveil his compulsory maths plans.
Of the move, a No 10 statement read in part: ‘Around 8 million adults in England have the numeracy skills of primary school children.
‘Currently only around half of 16-19-year-olds study any maths at all and the problem is particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils, 60% of whom do not have basic maths skills at age 16.
‘Despite these poor standards, the UK remains one of the only countries in the world to not to require children to study some form of maths up to the age of 18.’
Pegg’s latest video comes after he described Star Wars fandom as “poison” after Disney was compelled to issue a statement over racist abuse directed towards Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Moses Ingram, who plays Reva.
Disney said over summer: ‘If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.’
Speaking on Sirius XM’s Jim and Sam show in the wake of the incident, Pegg – who plays Scotty in Star Trek and Jakku junkboss Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – said fans of the latter were the ‘hardest to please’.
He elaborated: ‘To be honest – and as someone who kind of was, you know, kicked off about the prequels when they came out, the Star Wars fanbase really seems to be the most kind of toxic at the moment. I’m probably being very controversial to say that.’
Pegg added: ‘I’ve apologised for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks. Because, of course, there was a f**king actor involved.
‘He was getting a lot of flak and … it was a human being. And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that.’
Pegg was referring to taking aim at the character Jar Jar Binks, played by Ahmed Best, in the past.
Comparing Star Wars to the Star Trek franchise, the Spaced star went on: ‘Star Trek fans have always been very, very inclusive.
‘Star Trek’s about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was. There’s no sort of like, “Oh, you’re suddenly being woke now”.
‘Star Trek was woke from the beginning, you know? They had a Japanese navigator just after the Second World War. There was a Black woman on the deck in a position of authority. This is massively progressive.’
Pegg concluded: ‘Star Wars, suddenly there’s, there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it. And it’s, it’s really sad.’