Goodbye then, says Britain to Rishi Sunak. We’ll see you on the other side – of the parliamentary benches, that is. You led the UK government for 22 months, as the country’s first prime minister of Asian heritage, a man whose Hindu parents came from East Africa.
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer noted the significance of Mr Sunak’s premiership in his first address outside 10 Downing Street: “His achievement as the first British-Asian prime minister of our country, the extra effort that that will have required, should not be underestimated by anyone.”
The first MP of Asian heritage was Dadabhai Naoroji, elected in 1892 as the Liberal MP for Central Finsbury with a majority of three votes. It took a further 130 years before Mr Sunak’s election put him into a prime ministerial club of “firsts” that is small but notable: the first woman (Margaret Thatcher), the first of Jewish heritage (Benjamin Disraeli), the first from a working-class background (Ramsay MacDonald) and now Mr Starmer, the first to admit having no religion.
When Mr Sunak took office, I and many others noted that, given his background, it was a significant moment. But the marked lesson of his premiership is that judging a moment’s significance means also being able to distinguish between the individual and the system.
Did the individual change the system at all? Yes and no. The image of a proudly Hindu prime minister celebrating Diwali was embraced without widespread objection, suggesting equality. But across society, inequality – with respect to race, class or gender – didn’t appear to decrease under Mr Sunak in any noticeable way.
Was hatred – for example, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia – tackled head on? Yes and no. Sometimes simply being there is a statement that faces down hatred, so Mr Sunak’s presence in office was important. And three of the four UK administrations, plus the London mayor, were of Asian heritage.
The marked lesson of Sunak's premiership is that judging a moment’s significance means also being able to distinguish between the individual and the system
And yet, discrimination and hatred also rose during his term – some might say, deliberately stoked by Mr Sunak’s party policies and politics. Many saw the flagship Rwanda deportation policy as pandering to the racist right wing. And closer to home, the Conservatives took donations from Frank Hester, a man who said that pioneering black female MP Diane Abbott made him want to “hate all black women”.
And, it must be said, Mr Sunak himself faced racism, most noticeably during the election campaign when he spoke emotionally about a racial slur used against him.
Furthermore, the culture wars – often stoked by other politicians of colour – have remained heated in the past two years.
So the symbolic impact of Britain’s first Asian-heritage prime minister must be distinguished from the systemic one. People can make their own minds up about whether he used his position to drive change and encourage more people up the ladder, or whether he pulled it up behind him.
When we advocate for a more representative workplace, especially in leadership, political and cultural roles, there is a distinction between having the same opportunities to be in those roles, and whether your background itself will make you good and be used to drive change on that platform for more representation.
As a general principle – irrelevant to what you think of Mr Sunak – equal opportunities for representation also means equal opportunities to be as terrible as everyone else.
When Theresa May stepped into the prime ministerial role – because nobody else wanted it – some spoke of a glass cliff: women stepping into career-ending roles because those of the status quo didn’t want to clean up the mess. Mr Sunak was defeated in his first leadership campaign by Liz Truss, who then barely made it to six weeks in office. And then it was Mr Sunak who walked off the glass cliff.
Should we feel sorry for any of them? Well, that’s up to you. Judge them by their policies and individual performance is my view.
Will Mr Sunak’s success be judged by a different yardstick than his previous white counterparts? It’s unlikely that a racist lens, conscious or unconscious, won’t be applied to him, and that what might be forgiven by the current electorate and history for a Boris Johnson for example will be held harshly against Mr Sunak. After all, Barack Obama’s presidency didn’t bring about a utopian post-racial US, and racism is far from over in Britain today.
But let us rejoice in this much at least. The fact that the milestone of the first minority-ethnic prime minister is now marked means the milestone itself no longer needs to be the measure of individual success.
I’m confident we can hold two big thoughts in our heads at the same time: honouring a significant, historic milestone, and still judging individual talent.
In fact, it may be even more significant than we realise, because it allows us to progress past the important but often simplistic need for representation at an individual level. The latter often risks entrenching the same homogenising racism that the campaign seeks to dismantle. If we want more representation, then “any old” Asian* heritage person (*replace with any other underrepresented group) fills this need. But now we get the chance to assess the person on their individual merits. And that at a national level is a huge and important shift in deconstructing bias.
In the Scottish elections in 2022, the same beautiful point was illustrated: both the Scottish National Party and Labour party candidates were of Asian heritage. The moment was appropriately remarked upon as pioneering, and then everyone was able to focus on distinguishing these two candidates from each other based on their individual ideas and policies.
So if there’s a legacy we should be thankful for, it is the ability to judge people on their individual qualities and performance rather than just their skin colour.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Remaining fixtures
- August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
- September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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Mobile phone packages comparison
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
'Midnights'
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
The biog
Favourite pet: cats. She has two: Eva and Bito
Favourite city: Cape Town, South Africa
Hobby: Running. "I like to think I’m artsy but I’m not".
Favourite move: Romantic comedies, specifically Return to me. "I cry every time".
Favourite spot in Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat beach
