Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

‘It stings’: Sunak says he experienced racism growing up

The ECB approached the problems in English cricket in ‘the right way': prime minister

‘It stings’: Sunak says he experienced racism growing up

PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak has acknowledged having experienced racism while growing up in Southampton.

Reacting to last week’s damning report that claimed discrimination in English cricket, he said racism “stings” and “hurts”.


Sunak, son of an Indian-origin couple who migrated to the UK from east Africa, told the BBC: "Of course, I have experienced racism growing up, in particular, and of course, I know it exists."

It “stings you in a way that very few other things do. It stings you. It does hurt,” he said and recalled a family outing when he was subjected to abuse.

“One time, which I’ve talked about in the past, where I was with my younger brother and sister out and about in Southampton and some people said a bunch of things and I felt doubly bad because I felt bad about it. But I had my younger brother and sister with me and I didn’t want them to hear it and be exposed to it. It was really hard.”

But he said the UK has evolved as a society over the years although more should be done.

“Those instances I suffered as a child I don’t think would happen to my kids today because we have made incredible progress as a country.”

He told the broadcaster during the second Ashes Test between England and Australia: “Of course, there are pockets where we are not doing as well and we have to strive to be better."

Sunak, 43, said, “there is no place for racism or sexism or anything else in our society and where we find it, we should stamp it out”.

During his Conservative leadership bid last year, Sunak had denied the colour of his skin had any bearing on his chances of leading the party and the government. He had pointed out his election to the Commons which according to him showed that voters chose merit and not race.

He said it was “sad” to read the independent commission’s report into equity in cricket, published in the wake of a racism scandal centred around the treatment of Pakistan-born bowler Azeem Rafiq at English side Yorkshire.

Rafiq went public with allegations of racism and bullying in 2020, prompting the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to commission the report.

Six former Yorkshire players found guilty of using racist language in the Rafiq case were last month fined by the Cricket Discipline Commission.

Of the more than 4,000 individuals interviewed for the ICEC report, 50 per cent described experiencing discrimination in the previous five years, with the figures substantially higher for people from ethnically diverse communities.

Women were often treated as "second-class citizens", the report found, also stating that not enough had been done to address class barriers, with private schools dominating the pathway into cricket.

Sunak told the BBC: "It was, for people who love cricket, really hard to read and you were just sad."

A total of 44 recommendations were made in the report, including a call for equal pay for male and female international players by 2030.

Sunak said the ECB was "absolutely committed" to fixing the problems outlined in the report.

"I have spent a little bit of the morning talking to the team at the ECB and I think they have approached it in exactly the right way," he said.

"They commissioned this report off their own back because they wanted to be proactive so they deserve credit for that."

Sunak hopes the report provides cricket with a chance to reset its moral compass.

"They have offered an unreserved apology and are fully committed to implementing change and for this to be a reset moment for cricket," he said.

"We all want it to be open for everybody from all backgrounds and where everyone can feel respect and supported when playing it.

"So that's what we want and I'm confident the whole cricketing family share that ambition."

More For You

The Thursday Murder Club

Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie take centre stage in Netflix’s charming new mystery, The Thursday Murder Club

Instagram/NetflixUK

Helen Mirren leads quirky mystery film ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, out on Netflix this August

Netflix has set 28 August as the release date for The Thursday Murder Club, a cosy crime caper with a heavyweight cast and a clever twist; the detectives are retirees. Based on the bestselling novel by Richard Osman, this screen adaptation brings together Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie in a story where age is anything but a limitation.

Set in a peaceful British retirement village, the plot revolves around four unlikely friends who spend their spare time digging into unsolved crimes. But when someone turns up dead in their own community, their amateur investigations suddenly get very real. What begins as a hobby quickly becomes a full-blown murder mystery, and they might be the only ones clever and nosy enough to crack it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harrogate flower show

Organised by the North of England Horticultural Society

Getty

Harrogate to host UK’s largest flower show with 40,000 visitors

An estimated 40,000 visitors are expected to attend the Harrogate Spring Flower Show over the next four days, making it one of the UK’s largest events for horticulture and floral art. The event, which opened today (Thursday 24 April), is being held at the Great Yorkshire Events Centre in Harrogate and runs daily from 9.30 am to 5 pm until Sunday 27 April.

Organised by the North of England Horticultural Society, the Harrogate Spring Flower Show is recognised for hosting the UK’s biggest exhibition of creative floral art. This year’s floral art theme, Swords & Sorcery: Fantasy Heroes, features imaginative displays inspired by fantasy and mythical tales.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK  mini heatwave

Sunny conditions will bring early summer warmth

Getty

UK to see mini heatwave as temperatures climb towards 24 °c

The UK is set for a period of warmer weather in the coming days, with temperatures expected to rise significantly across parts of the country. According to the Met Office, a spell of dry and sunny conditions will bring early summer warmth, although it will fall short of the threshold for an official heatwave.

Temperatures in south-eastern and central England could reach 23°c to 24°c by Tuesday, around 10C above the seasonal average for some areas. The Met Office described this as a “very warm spell” rather than a heatwave, though the contrast with recent cooler weather will be noticeable.

Keep ReadingShow less
hazlewood-getty

Player-of-the-match Hazlewood said that he 'was just sticking to my strengths'. (Photo; Getty Images)

Hazlewood takes four as Bengaluru beat Rajasthan by 11 runs in IPL

JOSH HAZLEWOOD took 4 for 33 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs in their IPL match on Thursday. Rajasthan had won the toss and chose to field first.

Chasing a target of 206, Rajasthan were in a strong position before Hazlewood dismissed Dhruv Jurel in the 19th over. Jurel had scored 47 off 34 balls. He was out with 17 runs needed off 9 balls.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andaz Apna Apna

Aamir Khan and Salman Khan in Andaz Apna Apna

From chaos to cult: The mad journey of ‘Andaz Apna Apna’

Beloved Bollywood entertainer Andaz Apna Apna has delighted generations of film fans and is now regarded as a cult classic of Indian cinema. Its producers have consistently maintained that the comedy did well when it was released, but as the film was over budget, it did not make any profits at the time.

Over the years, however, this light-hearted movie – first released on 4 November 1994 – found its largest audience through home entertainment, in such a spectacular way that it is rightly regarded as one of the finest Indian comedies ever made.

Keep ReadingShow less