Rishi Sunak rejects skin colour as test of nationality

London, Sep 21 (PTI) Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak has triggered a debate on race and ethnicity in the country as he cautioned against equating skin colour with nationality and highlighted his own dual English and Hindu identity.

The first politician of Indian heritage to serve at No. 10 Downing Street reflected upon the topic in his regular ‘Sunday Times’ column, referencing a lecture he delivered at Lord’s Cricket Ground last week. Delivering the Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) Cowdrey Lecture, Sunak argued in favour of cricket -- and sports in general -- as a unifying force.

“I worry that Britain’s great democratic achievement is coming under strain,” writes Sunak.

“There are challenges that we must address: those posed by Islamism and exposed by the reaction to October 7 [attack in Israel], alongside those caused by the failure of those of us in government in recent years to adequately control immigration.

“There is, though, something else going on: a risk that we start equating skin colour with nationality. Or that we create different classes of Briton, treating those who arrived more recently as incapable of ever being as British as those who were here in 1707, regardless of how well integrated or patriotic they are,” he notes.

With reference to the infamous Tebbit Test, coined by Tory MP Norman Tebbit in April 1990 to claim migrants continuing to support the countries of their heritage over the England cricket team was symbolic of a lack of integration and assimilation within British society.

“For all the criticism it received, this was a Test that anyone could pass. If you supported England because you now saw it as home, you were part of the team regardless of the colour of your skin," reflects Sunak.

“Ten-year-old me passed the test without even knowing about it. Born in Southampton, I would have found it odd not to support England, Hampshire and the Saints... In Britain we’ve created the world’s most successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy. I was a beneficiary of that. Whatever issues people had with me as PM -- and there was no shortage of those -- neither my race nor my religion was among them.

“No one was outraged by my role in appointing Church of England bishops. I could read a lesson at the King’s coronation or light Diwali diyas in Downing Street with my daughters without controversy," he states.

The 46-year-old backbench Conservative MP for Richmond then goes on to lament comments from some sections of British society during his tenure as PM about whether he can be English while being a “brown Hindu”.

“In this world, if you’re not white it doesn’t matter who you support at the cricket: you can never be English. This reverse Tebbit test is impossible for any non-white person to pass," he states.

Sunak, who was appointed British PM in October 2022 before losing the July 2024 general election to Keir Starmer, goes on to warn against a situation where “people who live here, who feel British, who embrace our culture and embody our values, who strive to be the best members of society they can be, are marked down” because they are newer migrants to the country.

“Sport, though, can play a small but significant role in encouraging integration. Cricket is almost unrivalled in being played by nearly every major ethnic group here. It is why I spent time as PM trying to ensure that more kids in England got to play it," he notes.

“We cannot allow race to be reintroduced into our politics. We cannot allow Briton to be set against Briton," he concludes.

His intervention comes at a time when there is growing far-right rhetoric being stirred up by the anti-immigration Reform UK party, with its leader Nigel Farage describing illegal migration as an “invasion” on the country.