Sunny Hundal Profile picture
Sep 22, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Sorry, one gripe about today's news.

I love this country and I'm not afraid to say it. I really, genuinely do.

The Labour Party too mustn't be afraid of saying, especially its leaders.

One key reason I think Corbyn lost is Brits largely didn't largely believe he loved it too.
The gripe is this: some on the modern (Twitter) left believe declaring pride / love of your country, call it patriotism, is 'shameless pandering'.

That's the problem. They cannot conceive that anyone on the left could believe such a thing.
And so we end up with really silly debates about whether Lisa Nandy sounded like she was echoing Britain First.

They folks don't even see the language of patriotism unless it's by the (English) far-right. So of course their view of this whole debate is distorted.
You may think Corbyn's message was distorted by the media, and that's also true. But then you have to try hard to dispel that notion.

He did it, half-heartedly. Nothing after this.

So it's not surprising that Starmer's team have to work even harder.

newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
Yes, absolutely.

The socialist founders of the Labour Party and Trade Unions have always been the bastion / face of patriotism. Why aren't they anymore?

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More from @sunny_hundal

Dec 11, 2022
As soon as I got into Tiktok (about a year ago) I saw lots of videos by wannabe British finance and investing "influencers", who emphasised how easy it was to make a passive income through multiple buy-to-let houses.

And I think it says a lot about the world we live in...👇🏽
Firstly, if wannabe influencers on Tiktok are talking about it, it must already be popular.

That suggests a lot of Britons took advantage of zero interest rates to borrow money up to their eyeballs for buy-to-let properties.

This might explain our housing shortage problem
Secondly, it implies that low interest rates may exacerbate inequality in our society by making it easier for richer people to buy, and earn from, lots of assets.

Poorer people on the other hand may not take as much debt to acquire assets.
Read 7 tweets
Nov 1, 2022
A few thoughts on Suella Braverman's extreme and offensive language on asylum seekers crossing the Channel.

There's this idea that Rishi Sunak is using another brown woman to "whitewash racism".
THREAD
Some on the left believe that only white people can be racist. This neatly puts brown and black people on a pedestal, who can only be authentic and "right on" with left-wing politics.

I'm just glad we have Suella Braverman, Priti Patel and Rishi Sunak to prove you wrong.
Of course, brown and black people can have abhorrent politics. They can be racist too!

As @soniasodha wrote: I am not sure it is any less bigoted to apply benevolent rather than malevolent stereotypes to Asian and black people.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 6 tweets
Oct 30, 2022
We all love to hate the Tories, but I think left/liberals in the West should look at the bigger picture.

Because there's a global culture war going on and we're on the losing side.

Written about it in the FT but here's an overview - THREAD
ft.com/content/1fcc69…
Lefties say Rishi Sunak is too rich to be representative and is bringing in policies to harm minorities. Partially agree.

But the fact he's been tasked to lead Britain shows we are increasingly comfortable with being a Multicultural Democracy. That matters a great deal /2
I define a "Multicultural Democracy" as one where different races, faiths and gender identities are embraced.

Ys, we argue over our differences, and there is a lot of bias/discrimination to be tackled, but our diversity is regarded as a strength.

ft.com/content/1fcc69…
Read 10 tweets
Oct 24, 2022
One common response to Rishi Sunak's coronation as PM is that he doesn't represent the "common man" or even British Indians.

This is true. But there is an important way in which he is one of us, the Tofu-eating Twitterati, and why the hard-right hate him.
When you hear phrases like "globalist" and "WEF elite" etc, mostly from the radical- & far-right, the implication is that Rishi Sunak is a metropolitan social liberal.

Not the criticism Suella Braverman and Priti Patel usually get.

And Sunak *is* obviously a social liberal.
He voted for Brexit because (like BJ) he saw which way the wind was blowing. And he made absurd claims/promises during the leadership election because he was losing to Truss.

The right don't believe it either, hence the implication he's a snake.

So he has two choices IMO:
Read 6 tweets
Oct 24, 2022
As we are about to get our first non-white and Hindu PM, a few reminders:

1) Disparaging someone's racial or religious background, or claiming they're not "authentic" brown/Hindu is racist.

2) Point 1 applies regardless of your own background.

3) Hindu is not same as Hindutva
4) Calling someone a "brown sahib" or a "coconut" or anything along those lines is racist and derogatory. Why? You're implying they are controlled by white people.

5) Rishi Sunak doesn't represent you? That's fine too. He's not trying to
independent.co.uk/voices/conserv…
6) There is already a lot of racism being directed at Rishi Sunak from the far-right (see below). Please don't add to it.

If you're not celebrating Britain's first non-white or Hindu PM, that is your right. But others will and have that right too.

Read 5 tweets
Oct 23, 2022
Here's the case against Rishi Sunak as PM, from a liberal-left perspective.
Thread

1) He has absolutely no good ideas. His earlier leadership campaign was awful, with not one good idea.

2) he will claim a "mandate" from the markets (not so simple, pal) to pursue more austerity
3) He's a plutocrat, a rich kid with no sense of how the poor in Britain are suffering. He'll say Britain needs a large dose of cuts to balance the books because that's the kind of politics he's comfortable with.

4) He will always pander to the Tory right bc he's scared of them
(evidence for point 4 is his earlier leadership election)

5) Britain needs cheaper energy, cheaper housing, cheaper trade. He's pushing policies that will do the opposite.

6) In a desperate bid to maintain support he will lean into "culture wars"
Read 4 tweets

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