SAJID JAVID has revealed he gets racist abuse online every day – including from left-wingers. The Home Secretary said he is regularly called “not brown enough” by left-wing Asians on Twitter, and “too brown” by the far-right. He said people should not be defined by their race or religion, however, and insisted that anyone should […]
SAJID JAVID has revealed he gets racist abuse online every day – including from left-wingers.
The Home Secretary said he is regularly called “not brown enough” by left-wing Asians on Twitter, and “too brown” by the far-right.
He said people should not be defined by their race or religion, however, and insisted that anyone should be able to become Prime Minister regardless of their background.
Mr Javid’s comments, in a new BBC interview, come after allegations of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party including messages from members on Facebook saying the UK was “not ready for a Muslim PM”.
Speaking to Political Thinking with Nick Robinson, the Home Secretary told about the racism he and his family had experienced as he grew up in Rochdale.
His father was prevented from becoming a bus driver because of a “whites only” policy, he claimed, while his earliest memory was of trying to avoid a gang of National Front thugs.
Mr Javid said he had once punched a youth who shouted a racist insult at him – but many years later received an apology from him.
“I ran into him in a shopping mall and he did apologise and we recognised each other instantly even though it was 20 years on.”
Even now he said he is regularly abused on social media, and has “got used to it”.
“You know the far left, let’s say including lots of Asian who would say ‘he’s not brown enough’. I get it from the right and the far right in particular saying “he’s too brown”.
“They’ve got a lot in common. They don’t like me because of my colour and they believe that someone’s colour should define who they are.”
He went on: “I think in Britain anyone who’s capable, regardless of whether they’re Muslim or Hindu, for that matter, or any other religion or no religion, can be Prime Minister.”
And he said the UK should “celebrate” its diversity, pointing out that when he attends European Council meetings for home affairs ministers, his counterparts from the other 27 EU nations are all white.
