MPs push to redefine Englishness with 'Black English' and 'Asian English' census shake-up

MPs have launched a push to redefine Englishness by including Black English and Asian English in the next Census.

Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde is tabling his private members’ bill tomorrow following a row within Reform UK about nationality and ethnicity.

Mr Babarinde, who has received cross-party support for his St George’s Bill, believes England must broaden its Census options in line with Wales and Scotland.

He said: "I’m a proud Englishman and Englishness is about more than the colour of your skin. Most people in this country already agree that you don’t have to be white to be English. Just look at the England football team. But our Census hasn’t properly caught up."

He added: "This bill is about standing up to those want to gatekeep Englishness exclusively for white people and standing up to those who seek to divide us over who counts as English. This is about bringing people together around our shared Englishness.”

Ex-Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and former Foreign Secretary Sir James Cleverly have both given the Liberal Democrat MP their backing.

The bill also has the backing of Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Labour’s Adam Jogee and Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson.

Mr Babarinde brought forward the Ten Minute Rule Bill after Reform UK MP Suella Braverman said she considers herself British but not English because of her South Asian heritage.

The former Home Secretary, who was born in Harrow and raised in Wembley, argued: "I'm not English. I'm proud to be British. My family and ancestors have a link to Britain which spans centuries. But in no way are we English."

Mrs Braverman claimed that describing anyone born in England as English amounted to taking a "laissez-faire, anything-goes" approach to ethnicity, citizenship and identity, adding: "I take the conservative approach. Englishness is an ethnicity."

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who was once close friends with Mrs Braverman, rejected the suggestion that English identity should be restricted to ethnicity.

Mrs Badenoch accused her former colleague of engaging in "identity politics, where people keep putting other people into boxes".

“I don't understand why all of a sudden some people are policing other people's identity,” she added.

“I think identity is something very personal. If that's how she feels about herself, I think that's fine, but what I'm worried about is, you know, politicians running around telling some people that they are not English.”

Mrs Badenoch, whose children are mixed race, said Britain was a multiracial country, and politicians should be proud of that.

“My children, they are half-white and half-black. We are a multiracial country. I think we should be proud of that,” she said.

The Tory leader added: “I think politicians should be talking about how we bring people together. I am tired of identity politics, where people keep putting other people into boxes. I think it just creates more division."

The dispute has also exposed differences within Reform UK, with the party’s home affairs Zia Yusuf distancing himself from Mrs Braverman's position.

He said: “I'm a Chelsea fan and in my view Ashley Cole is the best English fullback in history, and I won't take any other position. So in my view, Ashley Cole is English. The argument that he's not English doesn't hold water with me."

The debate has also brought renewed attention to Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• England 'pushed towards stronger identity' amid left-wing nationalist plot to break up UK
• ‘British on paper, not in reality!’ Poll reveals hardening views on what it means to be British
• 'It's not about race!' GB News guest rages against 'anti-British' sentiment as he insists flag row 'is all about power'

Mr Lowe was grilled on whether King Charles, whose late father, Prince Philip, was born in Greece, would be considered a white Briton under the definition used in the report he had cited about demographic change.

The Great Yarmouth MP declined to give a definitive answer, saying there were different interpretations of the term.

Under the current Census system in England, the ethnic group question offers “English” within the White category.

People from Asian, Black, mixed and other ethnic backgrounds can identify as British but do not have an equivalent option to describe themselves as English.

The same is not the case in Scotland and Wales, where respondents can select options such as “Scottish Asian” and “Black Welsh”.

Mr Babarinde is introducing the legislation under Parliament's Ten Minute Rule, which allows backbench MPs to propose laws to the House of Commons.

An MP introducing a Ten Minute Rule Bill is given up to ten minutes to explain its purpose in the House of Commons.

Another MP can then speak against the proposal for the same amount of time.

MPs are subsequently asked whether the Bill should be introduced.

If permission is granted, it receives a first reading.

However, the procedure does not mean the legislation will automatically become law.

Ten Minute Rule Bills rarely complete the parliamentary process and must secure time for further debate and pass through the necessary stages in both Houses of Parliament before receiving Royal Assent.