Reform UK’s candidate for Mayor in Doncaster this May has been accused of making “openly racist comments” following the train stabbings over the weekend.
In posts on Sunday, responding to Saturday’s mass stabbing attack on the Doncaster to London King’s Cross train, Reform councillor Alexander Jones explicitly attributed the crime to “individuals” who were “not English” and instead “Black and of Caribbean descent” – despite the alleged killer being British.
This reminds me of the hubbub surrounding Rishi Sunak’s Englishness and David Lammy’s Englishness.
Maybe anyone who lives or has lived in England could reasonably call themselves English. Just like if you live or have lived in Liverpool then you could call yourself a Liverpudlian, regardless of your ethnicity or anything else.