LONDON -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used an interview with an influential BBC current affairs show in London to issue his most pungent retort yet to his Canadian detractors.
Trudeau, 43, endured more than two years of Conservative party attack ads declaring him "just not ready" before sweeping prime minister Stephen Harper from power in last month's federal election.
Asked by BBC television's NewsNight program about his famous family name, Trudeau didn't deny that having had his father Pierre Trudeau lead the country for almost 16 years opened some doors.
But Trudeau maintained that he was raised to, in his words, work two or three times as hard as others in order to walk through those open doors.
In what could be seen as a direct shot at Harper, Trudeau said there were "an awful lot of people who sort of shrugged" and said he was nothing but a famous name.
After the election, Trudeau continued, those detractors "found themselves slightly bewildered as I left them in the dust."
The interview aired on BBC's flagship nightly current affairs show on the day the British government brought down a new budget, guaranteeing a large and influential audience.
