Addressing an awards dinner in central London where Sajid Javid, the culture secretary who is widely tipped as his successor, topped a power list of the most influential Asians in the UK, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he wanted to see a British Asian as prime minister in his lifetime, “not to fill quotas but to realise our full potential”.
Cameron told the GG2 Leadership Awards, “Let us think big about what Britons of all backgrounds can achieve. When I hear ‘sir’, ‘your honour’ or ‘honourable’… I want them to be followed by a British Asian name. One day I want to hear that title– ‘Prime Minister’ – followed by a British Asian name.”
Earlier, Cameron had described Javid as “brilliant” during his 10 minute speech, which celebrates achievement among Britain’s Asian community. He said he was “incredibly proud” of Javid – “the brilliant Asian man who I asked to join the Cabinet”, adding, “Doesn’t it say something that in two generations you can go from coming to our country with so little to sitting around the Cabinet table. That is the sort of country we are building in the United Kingdom.”
The British premier further said, “In Britain today, there are still too few people from ethnic minorities in top positions. The absence is glaring in the boardrooms of the FTSE250, in the chambers of the houses of Parliament, football managers’ benches, on high court judges benches, and in our fighter jets, our naval ships, our armed battalions around the world. I am clear that this has to change, not to tick boxes, not to fill quotas but to realise our full potential.”