Rupa Huq Articles

Cameron started off well, looking bronzed as well as well-fed and after nearly five years at the top of his party, conveying confidence and fluency. However, he soon came unstuck.

I can’t remember exactly who said it but it’s bound to be some American clever clogs or other who quipped that the problem with being British is you’re only allowed to find out about current affairs 30 years after they take place. Recent examples of the political past being illuminated for today’s news junkies contrast in their respect for the UK’s venerable 30-year rule which is applied to civil service documents. Sometimes it feels the past has been pored over with almost indecent haste. At others we have been reminded of anachronisms of a bygone age that feel out of kilter with today’s less deferential politics.

It may not quite have been on the scale of the mystery glamorous couple who inveigled their way into Obama’s White House for a state dinner held for the Indian PM but I found myself last night at Gordon Brown’s 10 Downing Street for an Eid reception. The first Muslim to ever attend Cabinet, Sadiq Khan introduced a troupe of Syrian singers who’d come by way of Birmingham before introducing ‘Scotland’s most charismatic and popular politician’ Mohammad Sarwar who spoke briefly. Shahid Malik also addressed the assorted throng before Brown then took to the floor and listed areas on which Britain had benefited from Muslim influence from financial services to lobbying over increased third world debt.

Watching the Conservative party conference on television during the
week I’ve been struck by the sea of overwhelmingly white faces
fulfilling the function of clapping seals. At Labour last week the
audience too was largely white but at the Tory love fest in Manchester
even more so. The one exception is their big gun Baroness Sayeeda Warsi
who seems to taken on the role of the Tories’ prize Asian, who
addressed delegates on Monday from centre stage. The baroness is best
known for her role in teddy bear-gate a couple of years ago when an
English language teacher in Sudan was saved from a lashing due to her
diplomacy skills.