Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rishi Sunak praised for pandemic support performance

By Barnie Choudhury

Former BBC Journalist


OM SHANTI OM. Greetings from socially distancing SouthAsiastan, better known as Leicester. You know, that Rishi is such a good boy. His parents could not have known, but they named him appropriately.

Significantly, the past few weeks suggest that ‘Rish’, as our esteemed prime minister calls him, is a wise sage whose seer-ing abilities could propel him to sainthood.

His promotion to chancellor was not un­expected. What was, however, was the aus­picious timing. Ever since he entered par­liament in 2015, Rishi was singled out for stardom. His predecessor, Lord (William) Hague told me this story. “A few weeks after he was selected, I met up with him for a cof­fee. I said, ‘What are you going to do next?’ He said, ‘I’m going to Wensleydale to milk cows.’ I said, ‘What? I was a member for 26 years here, so I did visit the farms a lot and asked the farmers about their businesses, but you don’t really have to go milking the cows.’ He said, ‘No, I’m determined to un­derstand what it’s like and how the business works, what the future is for farming. I’m going to put my wellies on and I’m going milking cows.’ It’s very impressive.”

So, it is no surprise what happened next. Rishi knows he owes his dramatic rise as the holder of the country’s purse strings to Boris [Johnson] and Dominic [Cummings], but he has not forgotten his former boss at the Treasury, Saj [Sajid Javid].

The Saj left because he could not have his own set of advisers if he continued as chan­cellor. He must have felt like Shylock in Wil­liam Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Dominic’s Portia, with Judge Boris, said he could get his pound of flesh, but no blood must be spilled.

In under four weeks, Rishi delivered his ‘get it done coronavirus’ budget, saluted by the Daily Mail. “Rishi Sunak is hailed ‘PM in waiting’ for storming debut budget as even his predecessor Sajid Javid backs him”, screamed its headline the next day.

But we south Asians knew the boy from Santhanpara, sorry Southampton, would do good. After all, he was head boy at Win­chester College. You can imagine his par­ents – father a doctor, mother a pharmacist – at parties, “Have you met our Oxford and Stanford-educated boy, Rishi? Such an al­truistic nature, making millions for others. Takes his oath at the Commons on the Bhagavad Gita. Such a good boy. So proud.”

Rishi continued to do the right thing. He married into a family of billionaires and even went to work for a time with his sasara (father-in-law), NR Narayana Murthy, co-founder of [Indian IT giant] Infosys.

As the Sun (wot won it) reported, “Before his rise to lead the Treasury, Tory officials saw he was the ‘perfect fit’ for Johnson’s new cabinet. One told the Financial Times: ‘Rishi is a superstar, he keeps to the line and proved himself to be a calm, able debater.’”

Perhaps that is why every time Rishi ap­pears on our screens, you feel in safe hands. Look at the way he filled in for Boris during the ITV debate before the general election last year. Self-assured, self-confident and self-less is how he came across.

But it is with the coronavirus pandemic that Bambi-esque Rishi has shown himself to be the vaccination. As James Kirkup eu­logised in The Spectator last week, “I still consider Sunak’s performance one of the most impressive I’ve seen from a British politician in more than 20 years in and around Westminster. I watched Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron at their best, generally in times of adversity and when the country craved the sense of com­fort that comes from the feeling that the people in charge know what they are doing and are calmly getting on with it. Sunak’s nerveless poise today ranks alongside those moments as an act of infectious self-assur­ance, not least because the stakes he was playing for are at least as high as those on the table at any point in the last generation.”

His decision to pump almost an extra bil­lion pounds into the economy last Friday (20) was a masterstroke. “His approach was inclusive, consulting the Trades Union Congress (TUC) as well as employers,” gushed John Rentoul in the Independent. “Presumably, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, didn’t want to be consulted, and went on TV within minutes to complain that Sunak hadn’t gone far enough or fast enough. This partisanship was in contrast with the reaction of Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, who praised Sunak for showing ‘real leadership’.”

Around the nation, millions of mombat­tis [incense sticks] are being lighted in homes, as instructed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Whisper this very, very quietly. We may, just may, be witnessing the birth of our first south Asian prime minister. Eesh­var ke saath chalo [Go with God].

More For You

Anil Agarwal

Vedanta Resources, which is based in the UK and owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, has been working on reducing its debt. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources signs £438 million refinancing deal

VEDANTA LTD said on Thursday that its parent company, Vedanta Resources, has signed a loan facility agreement worth up to £438 million with international banks to refinance existing debt.

The refinancing move, where old loans are replaced by new ones, often at better terms like lower interest rates, has led ratings agencies such as S&P Global Ratings and Moody's to upgrade their outlook on the company this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump-Getty

Trump said that while deals are being made with some countries, others may face tariffs.

Getty Images

Trump says major trade deal with India may be finalised soon

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Friday said a "very big" trade deal could be finalised with India, suggesting significant movement in the ongoing negotiations between the two countries.

“We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India. Very big one. Where we're going to open up India," Trump said at the “Big Beautiful Bill” event at the White House.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asda suffers nearly £600m loss as debt and IT costs surge

Asda co-ownerMohsin Issa. (Photo: Asda)

Asda suffers nearly £600m loss as debt and IT costs surge

ASDA, one of Britain’s largest supermarkets, has reported a pre-tax loss of £599 million for 2024, swinging sharply from a £180 million profit the previous year.

The loss comes despite total sales rising by over £1 billion to £26.8bn, as the retailer faces mounting debt costs, falling sales, and spiralling spending on a major IT overhaul, the Telegraph reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mounjaro

Mounjaro, or tirzepatide, is part of a new class of weight-loss medications, with trials showing patients losing an average of 20 per cent of their body weight after 72 weeks.

Reuters

Lilly to sell Mounjaro pens in India as Wegovy enters market

ELI LILLY said on Thursday that it has received approval from India's drug regulator to launch pre-filled injector pens of its weight-loss drug, Mounjaro.

The move gives the company more options to compete with Novo Nordisk, which recently launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy in the country.

Keep ReadingShow less
Grant Thornton's Anuj Chande urges UK firms to tap booming India

Anuj Chande

Grant Thornton's Anuj Chande urges UK firms to tap booming India

INDIAN companies are well placed to support the UK’s economic growth, Eastern Eye has been told by Anuj Chande, partner and head of the South Asia Business Group at Grant Thornton.

He was speaking after the publication of Grant Thornton’s India Meets Britain Tracker 2025: The latest trends in Indian investment in the UK, which was released last week. While companies in India need little encouragement to enter the UK market, the reverse is not true.

Keep ReadingShow less