Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and His Majesty King Charles III had their first official conversation over a telephonic call on Tuesday. This is the first time the King and Modi spoke since his ascension to the throne. PM Modi conveyed his best wished to King Charles III for his reign. Modi also took to Twitter and said, “It was a pleasure to speak with His Majesty King Charles III on issues of mutual interest, including environmental protection, climate resilience, and the Commonwealth. Also discussed the priorities of India's G20 Presidency, and the potential of Mission LiFE.”
Several topics of mutual interest were discussed during the call, including Climate Action, conservation of biodiversity, innovative solutions for financing energy-transition, etc. Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for His Majesty’s abiding interest and advocacy on these issues. Prime Minister briefed His Majesty on India’s priorities for its G20 Presidency, including propagation of digital public goods. He also explained the relevance of Mission LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment, through which India seeks to promote environmentally sustainable lifestyles. The leaders exchanged views on the Commonwealth of Nations and how to further strengthen its functioning. They also appreciated the role of the Indian community in the UK in acting as a “living bridge” between both countries and enriching bilateral relations.
Recent economic research indicates that British colonialism did indeed stunt India’s economic development prior to Independence. It is difficult to determine the precise magnitude of colonialism’s impact because doing so necessarily involves a somewhat speculative comparison between how India actually did fare under colonialism and how it would have fared without it. However, the British Indian community has come a long way since Indian became an independent nation.
Not just the Indian diaspora, but the entire ethnic minority community in Britain, especially South Asians have remarkably turned the tide in the UK over the years with their intelligence, hard work and multiculturalism. The Office for National Statistics recently published figures which showed for the first time that White British people are the minority in London. The usual extremists used this to try to divide communities. However, the New Year Honours have highlighted again how ethnic minorities are leading the way to build a better Britain. There are over 70 south Asians in the New Year Honours List 2023 (see P14-17 for full list), that comprises over 40 people of Indian origin. From COP26 President Alok Sharma, who has been awarded Knighthood in the King’s New Year Honours List 2023 to the current prime minister of Britain, Rishi Sunak, home secretary Suella Braverman to Racial Equality and Diabetes Co-Lead Dr Partha Kar OBE, Indians and people of Indian origin have been contributing significantly to the British politics, society, and economy. 60 per cent of the recipients are recognised in this year’s honours have primarily undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or charitable capacity.
In an interaction with Asian Voice, Deepen Patel of Deep & Meet News Twickenham revealed that the Patels are helping people amid the ongoing cost of living crisis by offering them a seat or space of spend some time in their cosy shop where the appliances generate enough heat, especially for those who are not able to afford high energy bills and seek company amidst loneliness in such difficult times. They call it the Heat Hub (read more on P12). If there is a significant contribution to the country being made via ethnic minorities, it is questionable whether the contribution is significant enough to pave the way for more members of the community to dream big? We decode.
Tracing back the contribution of ethnic minorities in British economy
We need many such Meet & Deep News agents across the country to be able to accommodate all people who are reeling under the yoke of the cost-of-living crisis. According to Office of National Statistics data from November 2020, households with a White British head were approximately nine times as likely to be in the top quintile of total wealth (wealth above £865,400) as those of Black African ethnicity and 18 times as likely as those of Bangladeshi ethnicity. The percentage of households with financial debts that exceed their financial assets was highest for the Black African and Other Asian groups (both 44%) and was twice as likely for these households compared with the White British group. Households with an Indian, Pakistani or White British head had the highest net property wealth (medians of £176,000, £115,000 and £115,000 respectively) and were the most likely of all ethnic groups to hold net property wealth, with 80% (Indian head), 73% (Pakistani) and 69% (White British) of households having net property wealth.
Yes, PM Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have made their debut on the Sunday Times Ruch List 2022, topped by the Hinduja family. In 2020, Indian diaspora-owned companies with a combined revenue of 36.84 billion pounds employ over 174,000 people and pay over 1 billion pounds in Corporation Tax, according to first-of-its-kind research. The 'India in the UK: The Diaspora Effect' report, analysed data related to 654 Indian diaspora-owned companies in the UK with a turnover of at least 100,000 pounds and found that they collectively invest around 2 billion pounds through capital expenditure.
The report, produced by Grant Thornton UK jointly with the Indian High Commission in London and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI UK), zeroed in on a select few of an estimated total of over 65,000 diaspora-connected companies. The report, with the tag line 'Celebrating the energy and entrepreneurship of the Indian diaspora in the UK', finds a sector-wide sweep of diaspora-owned firms, with hospitality dominating the landscape at 19 per cent, followed by healthcare and pharmaceuticals at 15 per cent, retail and wholesale (13 per cent), real estate and construction (13 per cent) and food and beverage (9 per cent) to complete the top five.
London dominated the overall spread, with 52 per cent of the diaspora-owned companies based in the UK capital. The estimated India-related contribution to the UK economy back then, combining the figures for India-owned companies from the annual Tracker with the latest diaspora findings, brought a combined turnover of around 85 billion pounds, with over 1.7 billion pounds paid in taxes and close to 280,000 employees.
There is also evidence in the ONS report of differing degrees of private pension participation by ethnicity with lowest participation in Bangladeshi (48%), Chinese (57%), Any other ethnic groups (58%) and Black African (59%) headed households (compared with 83% and 82% for Indian and White British ethnic groups respectively). Which implies that no matter how high and huge the contribution of ethnic minorities is in Britain, the sum is still not significant enough to level up all minority communities in the UK.
Non-conclusive inquiries
Ministers have been slow to tackle systematic racism and racial inequality during the pandemic and persist in trying to explain away disproportionality in death rates, the head of the Covid-19 public inquiry has been told in a leaked letter from black, Asian and minority ethnic leaders. The government published its draft terms of reference for the inquiry in March and stated that the main topics would be the response to the pandemic and its impact in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It said the inquiry would also produce a factual narrative account of what happened. Inquiries are raised, dialogues are initiated, but at the end, the result or solution in non-conclusive. There is also an absence of a specific programme of work investigating how racial inequality and racism affected millions of Britons over the last two years has caused anger and prompted half a dozen community leaders to raise their concerns directly with Heather Hallett, the chair of the inquiry. The unforgettable fact being, that Covid death rates among BAME groups in England were significantly higher than for white British people.
ONS marked that the ethnicity pay gap has been widely reported, highlighting inequality in earnings and income by ethnic group. The ethnicity wealth gap is less well defined, primarily because of limited data. When overseas staff and recruits from developing countries continue to fill the void in UK’s ongoing staff and labour shortage, it is rather melancholic to understand that their pay gaps (for menial jobs at cheap costs) are not even accounted for. Richest Asians may be elevating the standards of UK’s economy, but the efforts of the ower-most strata that’s keeping the economy from collapsing is not even acknowledged in reports due to lack of initiation to gather data of how miserable they are.
Has racism gone away? On the surface, this is a positive story for diversity
2022 data reported in the press states that there has been a similarly sharp jump in the proportion of nurses and health visitors who are from overseas, which now stands at a quarter of the total (25.4 per cent of 313,679 staff), up from about one in six (17.1 per cent) in June 2016. Indian was again the most common non-UK nationality among this group, accounting for 7.3 per cent of the total, followed by Filipino (6.9 per cent), Nigerian (1.7 per cent) and Irish (1.3 per cent).
Despite the high percentage of Indians in the healthcare sector in the UK, there are hardly any known names sitting in the board rooms of the NHS. In an article titled ‘Aspiring for Equity in outcome for the Health Care Professionals’ shared with Asian Voice by Dr Ramesh Mehta CBE, he wrote, “The UK society reflects multi-cultural identities, with over 14% of the population identifying with a non-white heritage. This is reflected in the medical professions where the diversity of doctors entering the register has changed, particularly with the balance of gender and the increasing numbers of International Medical Graduates (41%). On the surface, this is a positive story for diversity. However, equity in outcomes, opportunity, and workplace inclusion are far from a reality. Seven years on from the landmark BAPIO vs Royal College of General Practitioners ruling in 2014, the differentials are still more pronounced by ethnicity and gender over other protected characteristics.”
In his write-up he further mentioned, that BAPIO’s approach has been radically different and recognised that the societal bias reflected in institutional discrimination could not be solved by adopting small interventions to support the oppressed/ disadvantaged. Therefore, the BAPIO review has recommended systemic change and measures that address the issue's root cause. Our recommendations are aimed at changing policy at the organisational and national levels. Ultimately, organisations and their leaders must recognise, acknowledge and lead the change. They must be held accountable and comprehensive datasets must be collected, analysed, and presented annually. We are working with project evaluation teams to develop self-assessment analytical tools for organisations and a national benchmark, which will enhance the results from Staff surveys and Workforce Race Equality Standards.”
How many people are sitting on the top?
It is also worth pondering that high offices and cabinet posts are only going to senior people and the younger lot can only abide by the word inspired and not really see concrete opportunities coming their way. Even the judiciary lacks more names and known faces from ethnic minorities to be able to establish that the UK truly gives equal chances to its minority people. Rishi Sunak’s ascension to Downing Street as the PM was seen as a truly inspiring and historic moment in British history, but his success which truly mean something when the public elects him the PM in 2024 elections or more candidates hailing from ethnic minorities win prestigious posts, as big as the one at No 10.
Community may be tilting the fairness balance thanks to King Charles III from time immemorial has paved the way for more multicultural exchange in the UK by visiting mosques, gurudwaras, temples, participating in festivals of ethnic minority community, and most importantly, by being approachable. He challenged the orthodox traditions and broke the physical barriers and proximity to embrace multiculturalism in Britain. The Honours list is one such example of the number of ethnic minority people - men and women making waves in Britain. However, the question remains, whether this greatness and achievements percolate to the bottom-most strata of these communities that have continued to suffer, otherwise.
