"a risk that we start equating skin colour with nationality."
Rishi Sunak said people born and raised in the UK should not have their Britishness questioned because of their skin colour, as he discussed race, immigration and British identity.
The former Prime Minister reflected on his childhood in Southampton, cricket and the debate around British identity.
In a piece for The Times, he said: “If you’re born and brought up in England and view it as home, what are you other than English?”
He added that denying people their Englishness or Britishness because of their skin colour could lead to “alienation” and a “two-tier society”.
Recalling his early connection with cricket, Sunak said his father’s GP surgery was located between Southampton FC’s former ground, The Dell, and Hampshire’s County Ground.
Sunak said going to games at weekends and during school holidays left him with a passion for sport and a belief in its importance to British life.
He said: “When I was a boy, the Tebbit test was a matter of intense debate.”
Sunak was referring to ex-Conservative Party chairman Norman Tebbit, who had questioned which cricket team Commonwealth immigrants supported, with the issue becoming known as the “Tebbit test”.
Rishi Sunak said that despite the criticism, the test was one that anyone could pass if they supported England because they saw it as home.
“Ten-year-old me passed the test without even knowing about it.”
Delivering the Marylebone Cricket Club’s Cowdrey Lecture on September 17 had prompted him to think about cricket’s place in British life.
He said it also made him reflect on the country’s current arguments over identity and integration.
Sunak reflected on his own experience as Prime Minister, saying Britain had created a multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy and that he had benefited from it.
He recalled being able to read a lesson at the King’s coronation and light Diwali diyas at Downing Street with his daughters without controversy.
“But something else is going on – a risk that we start equating skin colour with nationality.”
After leaving office, a debate began over whether he was English because he was a “brown Hindu”.
Sunak admitted being shocked during the election campaign by footage of someone using a racial slur against him.
He continued: “But the Englishness argument was stranger still.
“Call it the reverse Tebbit test. If you’re not white, it no longer matters who you support at the cricket, because you can never be English.”
I was a very fortunate kid. My dad’s GP surgery sat between the Dell and Hampshire’s County Ground, so at weekends I could go to a game and get a lift home afterwards. It left me with a passion for both sports and a belief that sport opens a window onto who we are.
When I was…
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 20, 2026
Addressing immigration, Rishi Sunak said he opposed illegal immigration and recalled his efforts while Prime Minister to deport people to Rwanda.
He said:
“I think the bar for legal migration should be high.”
“It is entirely possible to want a radical reduction in immigration and a far more robust approach to integration, and still totally reject the attempt to turn Britishness into a DNA test.”
Sunak argued that people’s connection to England should not be dismissed because they are not white, pointing to cricket as a way of bringing different communities together.
He said the sport is played by nearly every major ethnic group in Britain.
Sunak added: “If cricket can produce England teams in which every kid can see themselves, the impact will reach far beyond the boundary.
“We must all be on the same side, cheering for the same team.
“We cannot allow race to be reintroduced into our politics. We cannot allow Briton to be set against Briton.”
