Rishi Sunak says he doesn't have working class friends in old video

Indian-origin British politician Rishi Sunak has come under fire for a 2001 video wherein he goes on to claim that he did not have any working-class friends.

The remarks have attracted much criticism, with social media users lashing out at him for his seemingly classist and discriminatory remarks.

Sunak, 21-years-old at the time, told BBC: "I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper-class, I have friends who are, you know, working-class." He then goes on to correct himself and says: "Well, not working-class."

The video was shared by one Kathryn Franklin from Huddersfield, and has managed to garner more than three million views. The video was posted with a caption reading "The 'People's Chancellor' in the making, 2001," per The Mirror.

"I mix and match and then I go to see kids from an inner-city state school and tell them to apply for Oxford and talk to them about people like me," he goes on to say in the BBC's series "Middle Classes: Their Rise & Sprawl."

"And then I shock them at the end of chatting to them for half an hour and tell them that I was at Winchester and one of my best friends is from Eton and whatever. And they are like 'oh, okay'."

He continues: "I am very lucky to have been at these places, it does put me in an elite in society."

Twitter users have been lashing out at Sunak since the video resurfaced with many saying that he does not even understand the lives of the working-class people.

"When you're so far removed from the lives of working-class people, you're incapable of truly understanding the depth of the current economic crisis, let alone capable of solving it," tweeted writer Taj Ali.

"No understanding of reality. How is this man going to deal with the #torycostoflivingcrisis when he doesn't have a clue!" wrote another. Some came to his defence as well stating that he was only 21-years-old when the documentary was made, and a lot has changed since then.

"Rishi Sunak is 42 years old and this interview is from 2001. Therefore, half his lifetime ago. This clip tells you more about the makeup of Winchester College and Oxford University than his understanding of issues," said lawyer Alexander Rose.

Sunak, an MP for Richmond, is an Oxford University graduate and had gone to the prestigious boarding school Winchester College. He recently announced his candidacy to become Conservative leader and UK's next prime minister.

He launched his campaign with a video that talks about his Indian heritage and his life in UK. He speaks about his grandmother who came to England "armed with hope for a better life."

"She managed to find a job. But it took nearly a year to save enough money for her husband and children to follow her," he says in the video. He was also the finance minister in the Boris Johnson cabinet before the latter announced his resignation last week.