Sunak, Britain’s first ethnic-minority prime minister, was responding to comments broadcast by Channel 4 News, by a man named as Andrew Parker calling Sunak a “f***ing Paki” – a British racial slur for people of South Asian descent.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was hurt and angry that a supporter of Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party had been recorded making a racial slur about him, saying it was too important for him not to speak out. Sunak, Britain’s first ethnic-minority prime minister, was responding to comments broadcast by Channel 4 News, by a man named as Andrew Parker calling Sunak a “f***ing Paki” – a British racial slur for people of South Asian descent.
Speaking to reporters on the general election campaign trail, Sunak said his two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, had to see and hear Reform UK activists who campaigned for party leader Nigel Farage “calling me a Paki”. “I don’t repeat those words lightly, I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is,” he said.
Sunak was born in the southern English port city of Southampton in 1980 to Hindu parents of Punjabi Indian descent. He was speaking after a campaigner for the far-right Reform UK was filmed using the slur considered racist towards people of South Asian heritage, forcing the party’s leader and general election candidate Nigel Farage to condemn the actions as “appalling”.
“When you see Reform candidates and campaigners, seemingly using racist and misogynistic language and opinions seemingly without challenge, I think it tells you something about the culture within the Reform Party.” Sunak added.
Reform UK is fielding hundreds of candidates in the July 4 election on an anti-immigration stance with the hope of posing a major challenge for the incumbent Conservative Party, which is heavily trailing in the polls. However, with the election called earlier than expected, the party has been unable to fully vet all its campaigners and one of them – Andrew Parker – was filmed by an undercover reporter from Channel 4.
While Reform is likely to win only a handful of seats, at most, in the 650-seat House of Commons, Farage says his goal is to get a foothold and lead the “real” Opposition to a Labour Party government – which is widely expected to succeed the Sunak-led Tories after the general election.
In the Channel 4’s video, Parker says: “I’ve always been a Tory (Conservative) voter but what annoys me is that fucking Paki we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. Fucking useless.”
(With inputs from agencies)