This headline may appear to be a bit controversial, but it is apt, especially when it is referring to the inimitable and firebrand leader Gina Miller, who had the guts and conviction to take on a Goliath called the British establishment to court and win the battle hands down, much to the discomfiture of No 10 and her opponents. Today she is the face of the Brexit legal battle.
But all these came at a price. She had to suffer a huge backlash for her campaign. She was threatened, maltreated and hurled the choicest of all abuses on social media – which indirectly revealed the other side or, to say, the true colours of the 'Great Britain'.
Notwithstanding, Gina Miller is a household name today after her colossal Brexit legal victory gave Parliament the final say (and not the Prime Minister) in triggering Article 50 – the formal notification to withdraw from EU.
Fighting for transparency in various fields of work all her life, Gina known for not mincing words has faced several hurdles, not only as a campaigner, but as a mother, as well as a coloured woman in the UK.
While Britain is quite diverse and in theory does offer equal opportunities to all sexes from multicultural backgrounds, but in reality, not all is fair, especially when you are 'brown' and up against a male-dominated society.
The whole fiasco of Brexit has brought that ugly side out more in the open and Gina agrees what we are witnessing now is indeed disturbing.
Speaking to Asian Voice in an exclusive interview she told us how she still thinks being a woman from ethnic background has been the hardest for her in Britain. “It is still the hardest being an ethnic origin woman. It is the first thing they see. They have unconscious biases, which are very deep-seated. In the past it was much more visible and clear to see. However, now it is much more dangerous, as it is much more nuanced, vague and more difficult to identify.
“We have fought very hard for the last 30-40 years to get Britain to be a very much admired place, but in the space of 8 months to a year, we seem to be going backwards. The language, the remarks that were absolutely unacceptable are coming back, despite having laws against them and that worries me. People are using such language in the open without having any regrets, and that is not allowed...
“Being ethnic origin is still not considered as a part of the society. Immigration is largely believed to be white versus black. We are treated as less valuable. Four things apparently as an ethnic woman I should be doing or my fate is to be: a prostitute, a slave, a cleaner or have children. It is sad that in 2017 anyone could say that against you aloud and repeated by hundreds of people.”
Growing up years and Philanthropy
Born as Gina Nadira Singh in British Guyana to Savitri and Doodnauth Singh, who later became Attorney General of Guyana, she grew up in the newly independent Guyana before being sent to England by her parents at the age of 10 to be educated at Moira House Girls School and Roedean School. With roots in Punjab, all that Gina's family could gather over the years, that her grandfather (mother's father) was Sikh, who told them stories of travelling to Guyana from India on a boat.
In an interview with Vogue, Ms Miller had spoken of her early years in the UK after she and her brother moved to Eastbourne in East Sussex leaving their parents in Guyana.
She recalled working in local hotels as “a chambermaid or clearing up in the restaurant” while her brother did paper rounds and washed up in kitchens because their parents were not allowed to send money to the UK.
“Whilst we missed our parents dreadfully, and it was difficult juggling our home lives with homework and school, it made us who we are today,” she said.
Ms Miller married her first husband at 20 and they had a daughter, who has serious learning difficulties. Her daughter, now 28, has a reading age of six, a writing age of four and very little short-term memory, Ms Miller told the Mail on Sunday. But she described her as having “amazing emotional intelligence” and being an inspiration to her. She has two other children with her current husband Alan Miller.
Like many other expats, Gina has not been to India though she supports a few projects in India, especially a charity called Action Break Silence, which is now working in Kerala, teaching self defence to street children and women. The charity's main aim is to empower and protect women and girls through workshops, by educating participants about sexual and gender-based violence, equipping them better to recognise potential risks and ensuring that participants leave the workshops with improved confidence and practical personal safety skills with which to defend themselves if ‘flight’ or avoidance is no longer possible. They also have interactive workshops for 10 to 13-year-old boys specifically designed to encourage them to play a part in ending violence against women. This is done by breaking down stereotypes and building feelings of empathy towards women and girls with the purpose, in the longer-term, of preventing the development of abusive or violent behaviour (More information at http://www.actionbreakssilence.org).
The Founder and Chairman of Miller Philanthropy, she launched the organisation with her third husband Alan. The couple also launched the True and Fair Campaign, aimed at cutting charges on ISAs and rooting out “dishonesty” in the financial services industry.
Brexit, Trump and Politics
Forever a person supporting and campaigning for 'transparency' and ‘protocols' who fought the Brexit battle because she wanted the government to follow a fair and constitutional path of debate in the Parliament before triggering the Article 50, Gina thinks inviting President Donald Trump at such an early stage to a State visit in the UK, is a grave mistake and sends out a very wrong signal about our country.
“...Meeting the Queen, before even he (Trump) has proven his worth as a President, while his policies are frighteningly right-winged, it is sending out a wrong signal that Britain is accepting his policies. This surely is too early for doing that,” she said.
Despite the court victory, the Brexit debate frustrates Ms Miller as she witnesses the whole thing taking a complete wrong turn. “The politicians should be discussing now about what does Brexit look like, what are the different scenarios, what are the impacts on different parts of society. But I am so disappointed at them. The Opposition should be shameful. Democracy only works when you have an effective Opposition. Labour party is not doing their job as an Opposition or standing up for the people of Britain, whether they lose or win their seat. Brexit vote was opened up to the public because the Government was so arrogant in believing that Britons will only vote Remain and they will get more power and more seats. It was not what was best for Britain but what was best for themselves or party.”
Will she ever join politics herself? “I would never last in politics,” laughed Gina as she concluded the interview. “Unless we have politics where people can speak for what they believe in and voice for people you represent, until that's fixed, I don't think I can consider politics, and the other thing that has to change, for me to even mildly consider politics, is changing the way the media behave in the UK. They have to be independent. They cannot back the propaganda for whichever political party in persuasion. For me that is totally wrong and irresponsible. And media have a lot to answer for.”
