What does it mean to be English? Konstantin Kisin knows. He showed his working in a recent interview with the former editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson, on Kisin’s Triggernometry podcast. In a viral 20-second clip discussing the identity of Rishi Sunak, Nelson said: “He is absolutely English – he was born and bred here.” Kisin demurred: “He’s a brown Hindu; how is he English?”
His comments have ignited a furore from all quarters. The journalist Sangita Myska said that Kisin’s comments were “either ignorance or thinly veiled racism”. Dan Hodges of the Mail on Sunday insisted that “Rishi Sunak is English… that’s where the debate begins and ends”. The pollster James Johnson found it “deeply worrying”. David Aaronovitch challenged Kisin: “Am I English, Konstantin?” Kisin’s question was a racialised dog-whistle – and surely designed to create the stir it did. But outrage will only get us so far – who can define Englishness, and what politics is Kisin consciously or unconsciously giving voice to?
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