David Starkey condemned for ‘vile and racist’ remarks about Rishi Sunak

David Starkey has sparked a racism row after claiming that Rishi Sunak was “not fully grounded in our culture” while criticising him over the Coronation.

Mr Starkey made the comments about the Prime Minister, the first non-white occupant of No 10, as he accused him of being absent from the build-up to the celebrations.

Senior Conservative MPs accused the 78-year-old historian of making derogatory references to the Prime Minister’s Hindu faith and British Indian descent.

Asked by GB News whether Mr Sunak was detached from Coronation preparations, Dr Starkey agreed he had been “invisible”.

“And I think one of the reasons that I think that a lot has gone wrong, for example, why Parliament has not been properly represented at the Coronation of a parliamentary monarchy, is because the Government simply isn't interested.

“It's not interested in the constitution. You have a Prime Minister, I think a man of immense talent, of extraordinary skill, but really not fully grounded in our culture.

“Now I know that's a difficult and controversial thing to say but I think it's true. And again, this Coronation is going to highlight far too much I think our differences rather than what unites us.”

He agreed when it was put to him that his remarks were meant “in terms of religion”, and went on to criticise attendees being invited to say the Lord’s Prayer in their own language.

“It's going to be rebuilding the Tower of Babel,” he said. “It takes an Archbishop of Canterbury called Welby to rebuild the Tower of Babel. Again, there is this profound problem now I think. Everywhere in the text of the Coronation service where you'd expect ‘nation’, it's plural.”

'Ill-informed opinion'

Tory backbenchers led criticisms of Dr Starkey on Thursday night.

Nadhim Zahawi, the former chancellor and Conservative Party chairman, said: “That is an ill-informed opinion. A racist opinion.

“He only needs to spend a few hours with Rishi or with me in Stratford-on-Avon or Yorkshire to realise how our culture is strong and has been rooted in diversity, pride and love. He could do with reading Shakespeare.

Caroline Nokes, the Tory MP for Romsey and Southampton North, added: “What a vile and racist comment to make. The PM grew up in my constituency and is as British as both me and David Starkey.

“The Coronation is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate our wonderful and diverse culture and Starkey's comment says far more about him than the PM.”

Sunder Katwala, the director of the think tank British Future, said it was welcome that nobody had previously questioned whether Mr Sunak’s ethnicity or faith made him any less legitimate as a national leader.

“It’s unfortunate that David Starkey has sought to bring this clumsy, prejudiced and divisive perspective to a national occasion which aspires to bring people together,” said Mr Katwala.

Controversial past

Dr Starkey presented The Crown: A Thousand Year Story, a two-part documentary for GB News on the history of royal coronations, which aired earlier this week.

It is not the first time that the historian, who rose to prominence in the 2000s for his work on Tudor politics, has been embroiled in controversy over allegations of racism.

In 2020, he was forced to resign from his academic positions at Cambridge and Canterbury Christ Church universities after he made comments about slavery in which he referred to “damn blacks”.

He had argued in a podcast interview that slavery could not be considered genocide because “otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain”.

Dr Starkey went on to apologise for his “bad mistake” but insisted freedom of speech should not exclude conversations around race.

In 2011, he told Newsnight “the whites have become black” while discussing the London riots - going on to claim Enoch Powell “was absolutely right in one sense … The Tiber didn’t foam with blood but flames lambent. They wrapped around Tottenham and around Clapham”.

The following year, he said Rochdale grooming gangs of Pakistani descent “were acting within their own cultural norms”. He told The Spectator this week: “I merely pointed out the gangs involved were operating in accordance with the values of the Punjab.”

Dr Starkey and GB News were contacted for comment.