Joe Harker
A multi-millionaire who said people who are struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis should work harder has revealed that he's spent £4 million on Christmas presents for his children this year.
As the first Christmas without having to worry about Covid restrictions since 2019 approaches, many families are having to make it a modest one due to the cost of living crisis.
Energy bills are up, inflation is high and people's stagnant wages mean many are unable to afford what they once could, and while Christmas might be the most wonderful time of the year it's also one of the most expensive.
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With the cost of presents, Christmas dinner and all sorts of other expenses like decorations and travel to see your family piling up, the festive period is very pricey.
All this comes at a time when plenty of households are having to make the agonising choice between heating and eating, especially when it's absolutely freezing right now.
Even some of the adverts on this time of year are acknowledging that many are going to have a budget Christmas this year.
However, not everyone shares the same views on the cost of living crisis many people are struggling with.
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Multi-millionaire Barrie Drewitt Barlow said earlier this year the cost of living crisis 'only boosts my fortune' and suggested that people struggling to make ends meet 'should work harder'.
Barlow said that while he might 'totally do feel for them' as he was once in their situation, he argued that he was 'sick of hearing people's hard luck stories' and claimed that people who 'want to sit on their ass all day long get what they deserve'.
He pointed to himself as an example, claiming he works '19 hour days every day of the week' as his estimated net worth is somewhere around £175 million.
The millionaire was hit with a major backlash for his comments, after which he praised 'hard working people' and insisted he was only talking about people who 'expect something for nothing'.
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The idea that people struggling to make ends meet should just work harder is one occasionally raised, and often met with a major backlash of criticism from people who work incredibly hard in low paying jobs.
Now, he's told the Sun spending £4 million of his fortune on Christmas presents for his seven children.
That festive haul includes a £600,000 flat in Manchester and a Rolls Royce worth over £400,000 for four-month-old son Romeo, with the car a gift to take him to nursery in the morning.
Other gifts on the festive shopping list include a number of Rolex watches and a £700,000 apartment in Tampa.
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There will also be gifts of up to £450,000 for three people who want to have a surrogate baby through his company.
Barlow and former partner Tony were the first gay couple in the UK to be legally recognised as parents after having children through surrogacy.
While the couple have split up, they still live together so they can co-parent their seven children,
The millionaire said he'd 'make no apology for giving my children what I didn't have when I was a child'.