Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Proud to be first British Asian prime minister: Sunak

He makes repeated references to his family and background at the Conservative conference

Proud to be first British Asian prime minister: Sunak

PRIME minister Rishi Sunak made repeated references to his family and his background during his first Conservative conference as the governing party’s leader in Manchester on Wednesday (4).

Introduced onto the stage by his wife Akshata Murty who praised his honesty, Sunak pointed to his cabinet colleagues to drive home the UK’s diversity.

“Never let anyone tell you that this is a racist country. It is not,” he said, underlining his party’s openness.

“My story is a British story. A story about how a family can go from arriving here with little to Downing Street in three generations.”

“What does the Conservative Party offer a family of immigrants? The chance to become energy secretary, business secretary, home secretary, foreign secretary, even the chance to become prime minister,” he said as he pointed to his frontline Cabinet members in the audience.

They included home secretary Suella Braverman and energy secretary Claire Coutinho.

Sunak also spoke of his India-born maternal grandfather Raghubir Berry, who migrated to East Africa in the early 1950s before coming to the UK.

“When I first became an MP, my grandfather came to Parliament to see me,” the prime minister said.

“As we stood in Westminster Hall, on that floor which Disraeli and Churchill had walked across so many times, my grandfather suddenly got out his mobile phone and started to make a quick call. I was a new MP and I wasn’t quite sure whether phones were allowed there or not.”

“And I said, ‘Nanaji, nanaji, can't you just wait a moment’. He replied that he was calling the landlady he had when he had first arrived in this country. He said to me: ‘I just wanted to tell her where I was standing’.”

Nanaji means maternal grandfather in Hindi. Berry worked as a customs and excise official in the old British territory of Tanganyika in what is now known as Tanzania. Following his migration to the UK, Berry joined Inland Revenue in Leicester and earned his MBE honour in 1988.

Sunak went on: “I am proud to be the first British Asian Prime Minister, but you know what I’m even prouder that it’s just not a big deal. And just remember: it was the Conservative Party who made that happen, not the Labour Party.”

The first Hindu to become the UK’s prime minister has previously said how he takes pride in his family, heritage and upbringing.

He was born in Southampton to Indian-origin parents who migrated from East Africa.

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less