SUNDER KATWALA, founder of leading identity and integration think-tank British Future, has been on the forefront in the last few months speaking and writing about racism in English football and cricket.

Commenting on the racism scandal at the Yorkshire Cricket Club, Katwala says ‘English cricket needs a deeper change of culture on race and inclusion’.

As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the UK in March 2020, people across the country adapted to their new ‘normal’.

The British Future team, headed by Katwala, was no different. The independent think-tank has had to adapt to the restrictions triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, meaning that all of its events have gone online. Although there are obvious downsides to virtual meet-ups, there have been positives too.

“We’ve got more reach than we used to have as we prioritise the audience in the room,” Katwala says. “The fact that you can very easily put (the event) on YouTube and make it accessible to a much broader group of people does have its advantages.”

Known to engage with the public on their hopes and fears relating to integration and migration, British Future has been at the forefront of several significant debates and reports on the hot topic of recent years – immigration.

However, Katwala believes that the immigration debate has become “calmer” during the course of the ongoing pandemic.

As well as discussions and debate on race has never been as prevalent as in 2020. In May, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement became an international phenomenon following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed in police custody in the United States.

Global protests rocked the world, as discussions on racial inequalities within society came to the forefront. British Future led discussions on the events.

Katwala believes many people in the UK regarded the