[News Article] Rishi Sunak Elected: Is A Privileged Minority Worth Celebrating?
Brillin Yapply — FPCI Chapter Universitas Airlangga
October 25th marks the new era for the United Kingdom (UK), with Liz Truss, only lasting for 44 days, Rishi Sunak ascended as the newly elected Prime Minister (PM) and addressed his first speech outside Downing Street. In his speech, he vowed to mend the “mistakes nonetheless” of his predecessor as he claimed to fix them immediately to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of the government agenda. His projection included the G20’s economic action plan to deliver urgent support, increase food supply, shift energy dependence, pursue free trade agreements, and provide financial stability.
Many people celebrated Sunak as the first British–Indian PM but, too bad that this celebration had to end too soon. Since the beginning, his credibility was contested, as people discovered his privileged background and his wealthy wife’s non-domiciled tax status. Although he is a minority, he came from a privileged — wealthy descendant of immigrant background and used to work for banks and hedge funds. He is married to the daughter of an Indian billionaire and together their wealth topples the royal family. Thus, he might be the minority model, but he could be too rich to understand the average minority’s day-to-day struggles. In addition, he supports the anti-migrant policies though he positioned himself as a second-generation success story and proud of his grandparents moving to England in the 1960s. However, he is not into contemporary migration as he planned for illegal immigration to consistently voted for a stricter asylum system and stronger immigration rules to ship deportees whatever it takes to Rwanda.
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