Brazil’s president used his trip to the UK for the Queen’s funeral to stop at a petrol station and post a video about the cost of fuel.
Jair Bolsonaro stood on a Shell forecourt on London’s Bayswater Road and pointed at the price of unleaded on the electronic sign.
He said the 161.9p per litre cost was “practically double the average of many Brazilian states” and claimed fuel in his country was among the cheapest in the world.
The video was posted the night before the Queen’s funeral and was criticised by some on social media, who said it wasn’t a fair comparison as Brazil‘s minimum wage is many times lower than the UK’s.
Prices in Britain have fallen in recent months from highs of nearly £2 per litre.
Brazil’s controversial president has been trumpeting a fall in fuel prices as he tries to avoid being kicked out of office during presidential elections next month.
Former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is ahead on 47% against his 31%, according to a poll by IPEC on Monday.
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Mr Bolsonaro was also accused of using his London trip to be pictured among world leaders in an attempt to boost his image, and as a platform for his lagging campaign.
Addressing supporters from the balcony of the Brazilian embassy on Sunday, he spent seconds on the Queen’s legacy before turning to a speech on the election.
At one point he told the crowd: “We’re a country that doesn’t want drug liberalisation, that doesn’t want to talk about legalising abortion and that doesn’t accept ‘gender ideology’.”
The far-right leader has often been described as Brazil’s answer to Donald Trump and is no stranger to controversy, not least in his approach to the pandemic and policy on the Amazon rainforest.
