Downing Street refuses to say whether Rishi Sunak believes in white privilege after PMQs culture war attacks

Downing Street has refused to say whether Rishi Sunak believes in the concept of white privilege after the Prime Minister launched a culture war attack on Sir Keir Starmer.

At PMQs, Sunak said: “He talks about … what Britain values. This from a man who takes the knee, who wanted to abolish the monarchy, who still doesn’t know what a woman is, and who just this week, one of his frontbenchers, said that they backed teaching divisive white privilege in our schools.”

The Prime Minister was referring to comments by Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debonnaire that the concept of white privilege should be taught to children.

She told the BBC:  “We need education that allows children the opportunity to question, to ask difficult questions sometimes of our nation’s history. Are there things we regret? Are there even things that we’re sorry about? But also are there things we can learn so that we make a stronger, better country for the future?”

White privilege is the idea that there is unconscious bias within our society towards white people. The term came into sharp focus following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and the Black Lives Matter protests. Certain right-wing figures have decried white privilege as racism. 

When asked by NationalWorld about Sunak’s comments after PMQs, his press secretary twice declined to say whether he believed in the concept of white privilege. She said: “I think if you go back through some of what’s been said about that, it can be a divisive thing. We want kids to have all the opportunities laid out in front of them, not told that they can’t do things because of characteristics of theirs. 

When pressed on whether Sunak believes in white privilege existing, she responded: “The Prime Minister is a man that believes in opportunity for all regardless of whatever background people come from, who their parents are, where they live in the country, that’s the country he wants to build.”

Sunak’s press secretary was also asked by reporters about his comments around Starmer and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner taking the knee. This is a protest which high-profile athletes, such as Premier League footballers, have carried out to raise awareness of inequality following the death of George Floyd.

The No10 chief said that Sunak regarded politicians doing it as “virtue signalling” while respecting footballers who take the knee. She told reporters: “He does respect those people who have experienced racism and do it on that behalf, but with Keir Starmer it was a virtue signalling exercise. What Premier League footballers experienced was truly horrific, so we understand that. 

When asked about white footballers who also took the knee, the press secretary said: “They were doing it for their teammates. His view is politicians are there to lead, they are not there to do virtue signalling.” She added: “The PM has previously talked about things he’s faced personally.” 

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.