London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

Rishi Sunak speaks out on racist abuse as child growing up in UK

Rishi Sunak speaks out on racist abuse as child growing up in UK

The Indian-origin finance minister, who was born in the UK, revealed that the abuse felt far worse when it occurred in the presence of his younger siblings, as he was asked to comment on another set of far-right and antiracism protests in London over the weekend.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Sunday spoke out about the racist abuse he faced as a child growing up in Britain, but stressed that the country has made enormous progress over time.

The Indian-origin finance minister, who was born in the UK, revealed that the abuse felt far worse when it occurred in the presence of his younger siblings, as he was asked to comment on another set of far-right and antiracism protests in London over the weekend.

“It’s the sort of thing that’s happening on your own it’s difficult enough but when I had my younger brother and sister with me at the time it was particularly upsetting; I wanted to protect them from it,” he told Sky News, when asked about his experience of racist abuse.

“They may just be words, but they sting in a way that other things don’t… There is something about that [racist abuse] that cuts to your core,” he said.

The minister stressed that violent clashes, of the kind seen during some protests in London on Saturday, were “both shocking and disgusting” and those responsible should face tough legal consequences.

He said: “This has always been an open, and tolerant country and what we saw yesterday was not that. There will always be a small minority who maintain prejudice, and indeed are racist, but that is not overall the description I would ascribe to our country.

“I think there’s been enormous progress that our country and our society has made if I think back to the time when my grandparents first arrived, when I was growing up.” Sunak, who is leading the UK’s economic response to the coronavirus pandemic, went on to encourage people to support the reopening of the country’s high streets from Monday when non-essential retail stores are allowed to reopen under Covid-secure conditions. The minister indicated that the government was reviewing the current two-metre social distance norm in order to assist businesses further.

“People need to have the confidence that it’s safe... and I can give that assurance,” he said, in reference to the next phase of the easing of the UK’s lockdown from Monday.

“The PM has put in place a comprehensive review of the two-metre rule. We keep everything under review... I can very much understand the positive impact it will have on businesses in being able to open,” he said.

The senior Cabinet minister once again admitted “hardship” in store as steps unfold towards restarting the economy after months of lockdown imposed in the wake of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 41,000 lives in the UK.

“I think, primarily, we need to reopen our economy safely and slowly, and that’s the most important thing, to try and safeguard as many of those jobs as possible. But then as I look forward, acknowledge that there is going to be hardship ahead. People are going to lose their jobs,” he said.

“I want to make sure that we have the degree of support for them, whether it’s skills or other support, to help them get back into work. I want to make sure companies are encouraged to employ people,” he added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
×