Day 298

I closed yesterday by saying that the colour of tyranny is irrelevant. The proof of the pudding is evidently in the eating. Braverman, a woman of colour, has just been re-appointed Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak, the UK’s first Prime Minister of colour. This is the woman who fully endorses the government’s borderline policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, the woman who said that she dreams of asylum seekers being on flights to Rwanda (and, by the way, who was sacked 6 days ago for breaching the ministerial code – so much for Sunak’s claim that he will create a government of “integrity”). By this appointment Sunak has proved the point I made yesterday – that he doesn’t care about making the UK a more multicultural and diverse society. The worst thing is that Sunak and Braverman, now confirmed purveyors of racist policies, are the children of immigrants into the UK, people whom those current policies would have deported to Rwanda. So much for celebrating a new diversity at the head of government, so much for the Tories who say Sunak’s accession is proof that the Tories and more multicultural and diverse than the other political parties. It’s not just a national disgrace; it’s an international disgrace.

Marina Florance and I released a song about racism in the UK in 2019. It remains relevant, especially right now. All the credits are at the end of the video. The bottom line – if you’re an immigrant, or of immigrant stock but went to the wrong school, you’re not safe.

If you think things will change for the better under Sunak, you’re wrong. The new economic policies will make the 2010 austerity policies of Cameron and Osborne look like days of bread and circuses. We are in for the harshest winter you can’t even imagine.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 232