Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said on BBC's Question Time that she considers herself British but not English, claiming "it would be misrepresentative" of her "to co-opt Englishness as an ethnicity".
Co-panellist Oli Dugmore condemned her remarks as "a racist point of view", adding "the political function of what she was saying is that you can only be English if you are white".
Under scrutiny from host Fiona Bruce, who pressed her on whether this reflected her view, Braverman blustered and crumbled. "You're not answering the question. I'm giving you lots of chances. I haven't had an answer," Fiona concluded.
Reaction to her remarks
Hours after the broadcast, Braverman hit back at Dugmore on social media. "You've called me racist this evening albeit in a contorted way," she tweeted, "but in doing so you've lowered the tone of the debate with divisive and inflammatory language. And absurdly, you're suggesting that I'm being racist against myself."
The column argues that by her reckoning, figures such as Anthony Joshua, Marcus Rashford, Idris Elba, Ian Wright, Tessa Sanderson, Denise Lewis and Bukayo Saka would not qualify as English.
Wider context
The piece notes Braverman previously served as Conservative Home Secretary, when she stoked tensions with sweeping generalisations about Pakistani men and grooming gangs, despite a report from her own department making clear most gangs are made up of white men. She now represents Reform.
The column concludes that her politics and those of her party represent extreme right-wing views that continue to be the biggest threat to democracy.
