Leading Britain's Conversation (LBC) is one of the UK’s leading talk radio stations, however yesterday there was a controversial moment that has been shared widely online. Host Sangita Myska received a call from a man who identified himself as 'Jerry', a member of the Conservative political party, and he had some contentious comments about the UK’s next Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
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Jerry alleged that ‘Rishi is not even British, in most people’s opinion’, in the video seen on SBS News. He went on to claim that Sunak has ‘American allegiances, his family’s American and they’re Indian business people.’
Naturally, the host went on to point out that Sunak was born and raised in this country and so the caller’s points were not factually accurate.
'Racist'
Myska queried what was the real motive behind the caller’s statements, asking:
Is the real problem here, Jerry, that Rishi Sunak is a brown man and you don’t trust him at the top of this country?
To which Jerry replied:
Eighty-five per cent of English people, yes, are white, English people and yes, they want to see a Prime Minister that reflects them.
Myska told Jerry that he is ‘fundamentally racist’ and promptly ended the call.
Sunak’s background
Sunak was born in Southampton General Hospital after his family moved to the UK in 1960’s. His parents are both of Indian descent and were born in Kenya and Tanzania.
After graduating from Oxford University, he met his wife Akshata Murthy at Stanford University. Murthy’s father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd, as per Reuters.
Sunak’s victory in the recent leadership contest will make him the next UK Prime Minister. He is the first person of Indian origin and the first person of colour to occupy the role. He won the contest as the only candidate to have cleared the threshold and who wanted to continue after Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt pulled out. He is expected to formally become the Prime Minister tomorrow.
Sources used:
- SBS News: 'Is the UK ready for its first PM of colour? This moment on British radio suggests race is still an issue'
- Reuters: 'Rishi Sunak looks set to become next UK PM after Johnson quits race'
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