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| London mayor race: has Zac Goldsmith's 'Hindu jewels' attack misfired? | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| It has become standard practice for London politicians to proclaim the city’s ethnic diversity a strength and to be alive to any special concerns of different groups. It can therefore be quite legitimate to speak to such concerns when engaged in election campaigns, just as it may be quite right to be attuned to the particular needs of small business people, older people, people who care about green spaces, road safety, gay rights and so on. But it helps to have a clear idea about who you are speaking to and how to do it. | It has become standard practice for London politicians to proclaim the city’s ethnic diversity a strength and to be alive to any special concerns of different groups. It can therefore be quite legitimate to speak to such concerns when engaged in election campaigns, just as it may be quite right to be attuned to the particular needs of small business people, older people, people who care about green spaces, road safety, gay rights and so on. But it helps to have a clear idea about who you are speaking to and how to do it. |
| This has been underlined by objections made to Zac Goldsmith’s attempts to woo Indian and Tamil Londoners - “London’s Hindus,” as the Mirror’s headline put it - with tales of threats to their family jewels. In the past couple of days Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate to become the capital’s next mayor, has escalated his drive to scare up votes in London’s suburbs, where he believes his hopes of victory lie. Leaflets have been sent to voters in Harrow and elsewhere with messages carefully tailored to arouse hostility to Labour candidate Sadiq Khan. | This has been underlined by objections made to Zac Goldsmith’s attempts to woo Indian and Tamil Londoners - “London’s Hindus,” as the Mirror’s headline put it - with tales of threats to their family jewels. In the past couple of days Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate to become the capital’s next mayor, has escalated his drive to scare up votes in London’s suburbs, where he believes his hopes of victory lie. Leaflets have been sent to voters in Harrow and elsewhere with messages carefully tailored to arouse hostility to Labour candidate Sadiq Khan. |
| Each has the same design, the same photograph of Khan looking mean and aggressive and four attack lines, but one of these is varied according to which category of voter it is aimed at. Under the heading “Sadiq Khan won’t stand up for London’s Tamil community” it is claimed that when Khan was a government minister “he did not use his position to speak about Sri Lanka or the concerns of the Tamil community in parliament,” a reference to a period when London saw a major demonstration about the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils towards the end of that country’s long and bloody civil war. Beneath that comes the following: | Each has the same design, the same photograph of Khan looking mean and aggressive and four attack lines, but one of these is varied according to which category of voter it is aimed at. Under the heading “Sadiq Khan won’t stand up for London’s Tamil community” it is claimed that when Khan was a government minister “he did not use his position to speak about Sri Lanka or the concerns of the Tamil community in parliament,” a reference to a period when London saw a major demonstration about the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils towards the end of that country’s long and bloody civil war. Beneath that comes the following: |
| His party SUPPORTS A WEALTH TAX on family jewellery | His party SUPPORTS A WEALTH TAX on family jewellery |
| Exactly the same point about family jewellery is made on the Goldsmith leaflet aimed at Indian Londoners, as are claims that Khan is in thrall to union bosses and that he’d make voters pay for an “experiment” he plans for the transport network. The difference is the foreign policy component, which, unlike the Tamil leaflet, makes reference to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It says that Khan “supported” Corbyn who “wanted to BAN [India’s] prime minister Narendra Modi from visiting the UK.” It adds that Khan did not attend the vast welcome event held at Wembley stadium for Modi when he visited London last year. | Exactly the same point about family jewellery is made on the Goldsmith leaflet aimed at Indian Londoners, as are claims that Khan is in thrall to union bosses and that he’d make voters pay for an “experiment” he plans for the transport network. The difference is the foreign policy component, which, unlike the Tamil leaflet, makes reference to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It says that Khan “supported” Corbyn who “wanted to BAN [India’s] prime minister Narendra Modi from visiting the UK.” It adds that Khan did not attend the vast welcome event held at Wembley stadium for Modi when he visited London last year. |
| Let’s unravel these new elements of Goldsmith’s now relentlessly negative campaign. The accusation in the Tamil leaflet about Khan not speaking about Sri Lanka neglects to mention that Khan’s ministerial position was not in the foreign office - it was, therefore, not his job to speak about it publicly. The other revealing point about the Tamil leaflet is that, unlike the one aimed at Indian Londoners, Corbyn is not mentioned in it. | Let’s unravel these new elements of Goldsmith’s now relentlessly negative campaign. The accusation in the Tamil leaflet about Khan not speaking about Sri Lanka neglects to mention that Khan’s ministerial position was not in the foreign office - it was, therefore, not his job to speak about it publicly. The other revealing point about the Tamil leaflet is that, unlike the one aimed at Indian Londoners, Corbyn is not mentioned in it. |
| Attempts to denigrate Khan by associating him with Corbyn have been central to Goldsmith’s strategy, with endless (and entirely baseless) warnings that London will be subjected to a “Khan-Corbyn experiment” if the Labour candidate becomes mayor. The Tamil leaflet twice uses the word “experiment” about Khan’s plans for London, yet the Corbyn half of the alleged madcap formula is conspicuous by its absence in this case. Why? Perhaps because Corbyn is held in high esteem by Tamils in London and elsewhere for his consistent support for them. | Attempts to denigrate Khan by associating him with Corbyn have been central to Goldsmith’s strategy, with endless (and entirely baseless) warnings that London will be subjected to a “Khan-Corbyn experiment” if the Labour candidate becomes mayor. The Tamil leaflet twice uses the word “experiment” about Khan’s plans for London, yet the Corbyn half of the alleged madcap formula is conspicuous by its absence in this case. Why? Perhaps because Corbyn is held in high esteem by Tamils in London and elsewhere for his consistent support for them. |
| By contrast, the attempt to link Khan, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, with Corbyn in the “Indian community” leaflet over prime minister Modi is very pronounced. It is is also rather disingenuous. Corbyn did call for a ban on Modi visiting Britain in 2013, but dropped the demand before meeting him when he visited London in November. As for Khan (as I reported here), he attended the Downing Street reception held for Modi and, according to his team, also received “a bit of advice” from Modi’s communications chief during the Labour candidate selection contest. Indian Londoners might also be interested to know that grandparents of Khan were from India, a point he made when addressing the Indian Institute of Directors in London last October. | By contrast, the attempt to link Khan, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, with Corbyn in the “Indian community” leaflet over prime minister Modi is very pronounced. It is is also rather disingenuous. Corbyn did call for a ban on Modi visiting Britain in 2013, but dropped the demand before meeting him when he visited London in November. As for Khan (as I reported here), he attended the Downing Street reception held for Modi and, according to his team, also received “a bit of advice” from Modi’s communications chief during the Labour candidate selection contest. Indian Londoners might also be interested to know that grandparents of Khan were from India, a point he made when addressing the Indian Institute of Directors in London last October. |
| So, anyway, what’s all this about a wealth tax on jewellery? The Goldsmith defence of this line rests on shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s making a case for what he calls “a fairer taxation system” and others call a “wealth tax”. Goldsmith’s campaign says that jewellery is included in taxable assets in India and also in France. For the record, just in case it needs pointing out, the powers of London mayors do not extend to imposing levies on the contents of anyone’s family safe, Tamil families, Indian families or any other. | So, anyway, what’s all this about a wealth tax on jewellery? The Goldsmith defence of this line rests on shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s making a case for what he calls “a fairer taxation system” and others call a “wealth tax”. Goldsmith’s campaign says that jewellery is included in taxable assets in India and also in France. For the record, just in case it needs pointing out, the powers of London mayors do not extend to imposing levies on the contents of anyone’s family safe, Tamil families, Indian families or any other. |
| But what’s really annoyed some people about the “jewellery tax” attack is that they believe it based on a patronising stereotype: gold and other jewellery may have a special significance in some aspects of family culture but do Tories think hoarding heirlooms is an all-consuming preoccupation? Uma Kumaran, who narrowly failed to win the parliamentary seat of Harrow East for Labour last year, thinks it shows that Tories believe that Hindu Indian and Tamil Asian voters “are primarily concerned with their family gold and small businesses.” | But what’s really annoyed some people about the “jewellery tax” attack is that they believe it based on a patronising stereotype: gold and other jewellery may have a special significance in some aspects of family culture but do Tories think hoarding heirlooms is an all-consuming preoccupation? Uma Kumaran, who narrowly failed to win the parliamentary seat of Harrow East for Labour last year, thinks it shows that Tories believe that Hindu Indian and Tamil Asian voters “are primarily concerned with their family gold and small businesses.” |
| Kumaran, who is a Tamil and was not impressed by local Tory tactics at the general election either, considers the tactic “very ill-advised.” It may also have been ill-targeted: Sikh media are reporting that “thousands” of items of Goldsmith’s “Indian community” literature have been sent to the addresses of Sikh Londoners, saying this seems based on the assumption that “all the 120,000 [London] Sikhs were middle-class Hindus, running family businesses.” | Kumaran, who is a Tamil and was not impressed by local Tory tactics at the general election either, considers the tactic “very ill-advised.” It may also have been ill-targeted: Sikh media are reporting that “thousands” of items of Goldsmith’s “Indian community” literature have been sent to the addresses of Sikh Londoners, saying this seems based on the assumption that “all the 120,000 [London] Sikhs were middle-class Hindus, running family businesses.” |
| To be generous to Goldsmith’s camp, the “jewellery tax” line might be seen as an attempt to humanise or personalise a campaign message, albeit far-fetched and, in critics’ eyes, somewhere between very offensive and rather naff, to communities they’ve been accused of ignoring in the past. They can’t be blamed for trying to reach those groups of voters, who have become more receptive to some Conservative values than in the past. Whether they’ve hit the right note in doing so remains to be seen. | To be generous to Goldsmith’s camp, the “jewellery tax” line might be seen as an attempt to humanise or personalise a campaign message, albeit far-fetched and, in critics’ eyes, somewhere between very offensive and rather naff, to communities they’ve been accused of ignoring in the past. They can’t be blamed for trying to reach those groups of voters, who have become more receptive to some Conservative values than in the past. Whether they’ve hit the right note in doing so remains to be seen. |