BROADCASTER Amol Rajan has said he is thinking about moving his family to India, warning that England may no longer be a place "where history is being made."
The broadcaster, who left BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier this year, said he loves England but is "very worried" about its future. Speaking on Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, he said the country faces serious challenges that leave him unsure it is the right place for his four children to grow up.
"I can't tell you how much I love my country, by which I mean England, but I'm very worried about it," he was quoted as saying. "I think we've got some big, big problems that need addressing."
Rajan, 42, was born in Kolkata and raised in Tooting, south London. He said India feels alive in a way that Britain no longer does, pointing to its vast and fast-growing population of 1.4 billion people, which adds one million workers to its economy every single month.
"India is definitely somewhere where history is being made," he said. "It's extraordinarily exciting and energetic in a way that Britain doesn't always feel."
He drew a contrast with Britain's past, saying that in the 1960s and 70s England was at the centre of world events, driven by cultural energy and the prosperity of the post-war years. That sense of momentum, he suggested, has since faded.
Rajan said he does not want to make the decision for his children, but hopes to take them to India more often so they can see it for themselves. His youngest child is two years old.
"I'd like my children to experience India and then make up their own mind," he said. "I want it to be their decision."
He added that once long-haul travel becomes easier for his youngest, he plans to visit India more regularly and hopes his children will "fall in love with the civilisation that's in their blood."
Rajan is married to Charlotte Faircloth, an associate professor at University College London's Institute of Education. He announced in January that he was leaving the Today programme to set up his own production company. He will also step back from his Amol Rajan Interviews series, though he will carry on presenting his podcast, Radical.
Before joining the BBC, Rajan made history when he became the youngest editor of a national broadsheet in Fleet Street, taking charge of The Independent in 2013 at just 29. He started out in broadcasting as a mic boy on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff after studying at Downing College, Cambridge.
