Hook reaches for the Sky

Hook insinuated that people need to make sacrifices if they want the privilege of having kids

National grump George Hook had a most interesting debate with fellow broadcaster Jonathan Healy on his Newstalk radio show on Monday. The two had a wide-ranging discussion about the water charge protests and the effects of austerity in general.

The conversation moved on to the prohibitive cost of childcare and the effect it has on young families with both parents working. Healy pointed out that, for many parents, it was barely worth their while working at all.

Hook insinuated that people need to make sacrifices if they want the privilege of having kids. “How many [financially struggling] people working with two children have a Sky subscription . . . Do they really need a Sky subscription?” Hook said, with more than a hint of facetiousness.

Is this the same guy who earned a small fortune a couple of years ago flogging those very same families Sky subscriptions in those infamous television ads?