In one of several high-level repudiations of South African-born comic Trevor Noah’s skit on racism in the United Kingdom on his The Daily Show last week, Downing Street has said that new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak does not believe Britain is a racist country.
Several other leading figures, including ex-chancellor Sajid Javid and former Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart, joined in calling Noah out, according to a BBC report.
However, responding to the backlash over a skit he did about the appointment of Rishi Sunak as PM, the comedian said he did not claim that ‘the entire UK is racist’ . He added: ‘That’s why I said “Some people”.’
In the skit, Noah said: ‘You hear a lot of the people saying “Oh, they’re taking over, now the Indians are going to take over Great Britain and what’s next?” And I always find myself going “So what? What are you afraid of?” I think it’s because the quiet part that a lot of people don’t realise what they’re saying is, “We don’t want these people who were previously oppressed to get into power because then they may do to us what we did to them.”’
Javid tweeted that Noah’s comments were ‘so wrong’ and that Britain ‘is the most successful multiracial democracy on earth and proud of this historic achievement’.
Former Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart said Noah’s remarks were ‘completely bizarre’ and an example of ‘lazy stereotyping’.
[Image: Rory Arnold / No10 Downing Street, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124576210]