Turn the audio on to hear Chancellor George Osborne refuse to answer a basic multiplication question posed by Samuel Raddings, a primary school pupil from Manchester.
Osborne said he made it a "rule in life not to answer a load of maths questions". So he refused to answer. (It's 56, since you asked.)
Riddings was one of a number of children appearing on Sky News as part of a question and answer session organised by the newspaper First News. The panel of schoolchildren also got Osborne to say he likes listening to Pharrell Williams while running around the park. So that's that, then.
Watch the full interview here.
Why didn't George Osborne answer 'What's 7x8?' - not that tricky if you had them drilled into you at school.
I’ve been lying here trying to work out what 7x8 is. I got as far as probably less than a hundred then gave up.
Have we really reached a stage where a politician a. can't calculate 7x8? and b. thinks that "what is 7x8" is a question to be evaded?
Fucking hell, Osborne. 7x8 is genuinely my favourite sum. And I thought this government couldn't sink any lower.