This election is making me feel very alienated as an Indian woman

[Carowe]

I’m half Indian. There is something incredibly unsavoury going on imo. I’m not a fan of the Tories or Sunak but Farage’s comments in tandem with the insane media storm over Rishi leaving the D-day event early seems racist. The argument that Rishi is not patriotic feels like a dog whistle ie he is not British enough/ a white prime minister would have stayed. All this despite 90,000 Indian soldiers dying in WW2 (I won’t even get into the millions of deaths from famine caused by Brits ransacking India for war supplies).

How many indiscretions did we let Boris get away with?

Very uncomfortable for me.

He’s many things but a ‘tech bro’ isn’t one of them. He may want to be one because he sees how well Nick Clegg has done for himself at Facebook, however, he doesn’t even know how to use WhatsApp.

His fawning over Elon Musk was also embarrassing. He was clearly trying to set himself up with a post PM job in America.

I do think people have the impression that he has one foot of the door and isn't very committed to the UK. I have that too tbh but that is because he is very rich and has a green card.

I don't think you understand.

"Tech bro" has nothing to do with any skills - quite the reverse. A "tech bro" is someone who has worked out how to make an obscene amount of other people in tech. Like the outsourced-offshored programmers paid in cents whilst companies like Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google are worth more than 180 countries on earth.

Me too. IMO a lot of the bile directed at Sunak is very thinly veiled racism, and I’m no fan of the Tories. The D-Day episode has been blown up out of all proportion for electioneering reasons. Our head of state (Charles) remained throughout - Rishi is ‘just’ PM.

About that green card ...

I saw a discussion of it in a US legal group a while back, suggesting that he had lied to get it. Basically they should only ever be issued to people who intend to live and work in the US. Not to some job hopping politician who can't work out how rain works.

I think he had to return it.

Two things can be true at the same time:

1. Rishi Sunak should absolutely not have left the D-Day celebrations early.

2. Racist scumbags like Farage are using that poor decision as an excuse to make thinly-veiled racist comments.

Rishi Sunak deserves condemnation, but obviously not racism, since his terrible decision had absolutely nothing to do with his Asian heritage.

Two things can be true at the same time:

By the same token, Reform could be a racist company (it is), but at the same time have a really good transport policy.

I don't know who his advisers are, but I assume some of them are white English, so they are also as fault.

He did a very stupid thing and so was rightly criticised. It has nothing to do with his colour or heritage.

The only reason Boris seemed to get away with things was because he was pals with the editors of the right wing papers. The left wing papers and the rest of the media criticised him as much as they are criticising Sunak now.

This.

The criticisms are absolutely not overblown. It was both disrespectful and incredibly stupid. And Farage et al have taken the opportunity to be racist.

I don't know who his advisers are, but I assume some of them are white English, so they are also as fault.

He ignored all advice which was to stay.

Boris also, for all the other stupid and venal stuff he did, was good enough at politicking to understand that you just do not do what Rishi did. If nothing else, the opportunity for statesmanlike photos should've persuaded him. It would've done Boris.

I don’t know. Personally, I think Sunak and his disgusting “Stop the Boats” mantra racist.

Anyone who had left the D-Day commemoration early would have been subject to the same treatment. Rightfully so. It’s incredibly meaningful to millions in the UK, including the hundreds of thousands of descendants of the selfless, brave Indian troops you highlighted.

Exaclty. Boris was all show. All he cared about was himself and how he could make money once he left office to pay for all his ex wives and kids.

Rishi is the opposite which is better, but not when it comes to anything to do with veterans. That is the bread and butter of the Conservative Party and that fact that he did not know that just shows how out of touch he is with the party and the traditional voters.

I agree with much of your post but no I think few who are anti immigration and are not white British will feel differently now as they will separate themselves between good and not so good immigrants. Braverman is still in full support of Farage being back into the fold of the Tory party.

They also represent themselves not all Asian people (many who are Tory supporters for many reasons)

I think that Rishi is suffering to an extent from lots of people being pissed off with the Tories after Johnson's antics, Truss's antics, the decimation of public services, high taxation and all the rest. Plus, I think the people are ready for a change.
However, he has utterly screwed up this election campaign. This isn't about race, it is about utter incompetence.
However, there is no doubt that Nigel Farage is a downright racist, and his comments about DDay were a blatant dog whistle. And it is very depressing to think that there is a section of the population who shares his views. I can totally understand why you feel alienated, and I am sorry that you are being made to feel that way.

Also, I don't actually think that Farage is racist, he just says racist things to attract the racist Tory voters to his party.

Unfortunately, what Sunak did was so stupid that he allowed Farage to make that comment.

Indeed. Very unsavoury OP. Boris has recently used a Jewish slur in respect of a comment about Starmer. Knowing that Starmer's wife is Jewish. As he's a White British male a vast number of people will look the other way. Anti-Semitism on a Monday, suddenly unable to see or address it on a Tuesday.

The racism that I see around Sunak is with regards to his close link to the US (eg I bet the election is 4th July so the Sunaks have enough time to fly to the US and settle their daughters before the start of the new school year)

Anybody skipping the D-Day event would have been rightly blasted and that includes blonde /blue eyed Johnson.

Farage is pals and an admirer of Trump so will be using his techniques to get lots more media attention than his actual influence should attract. The media are going to report everything that the gobshite says as if he has a chance of winning but they are just loving the ready made content that Farage is going to provide them with. He will be rewarded with tabloid front pages as if he matters but tabloids just want memorable moments and sound bites and Farage will have studied Trump and known how to provide this.

I think you're right that he's carrying the can for the whole party. But in fairness, he was in government for nearly all of it. The only thing he's not implicated in is the Truss budget.

Good.

I do think people have the impression that he has one foot of the door and isn't very committed to the UK. I have that too tbh but that is because he is very rich and has a green card.

I also have that impression. His loyalties are with global elite, not British public.
And the national service nonsense... he REALLY is not planning to get elected again.

I think Farage's comments are completely out of line and I think mostly the media and other politicians have done a good job of calling them out as such.

I don't think the D-Day stuff is about race though. I think it would be the same if it was Johnson, or Truss or Cameron when he was prime minister. The fact is that Sunak is the leader of a party who's core voter base is older people who are likely to be hugely bothered about showing the right amount of respect. On top of that, Sunaks constituency contains the largest military base in Britain, another group who are going to care about it.

I'm not personally bothered that he left D-Day early. What I am bothered by is the fact that he lacked the foresight to see that this would be a huge issue with the people whos' vote he so desperately needs. That to me shows he's incapable of being forward thinking, of working out the consequences of his actions ahead of time, and given both of those qualities are needed by a good leader, that he's utterly unworthy of my vote.

But the point is farage wouldn’t have used “our culture” for anyone else.

Absolutely an opportunity for a dog whistle.

What I am bothered by is the fact that he lacked the foresight to see that this would be a huge issue with the people whos' vote he so desperately needs.

Against all advice too, don't forget.

There's no surprise in Farage being racist. He always has been.