Should I Be Deported? Mixed-Race MP Challenges Lowe's Definition of 'Englishness' in Immigration Debate

Right-wingers may unite in opposing Andy Burnham and the current government, but they have different views on what it means to be English. Reform UK's Nigel Farage said it is an 'academic debate', but Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe said that 'the English are a historic people'.

'Englishness is NOT an academic debate,' Lowe said on social media.

'We have our own ancestry, heritage, culture, traditions and national identity. We are witnessing profound demographic change across Britain, and the leader of Reform thinks the meaning of English identity is a subject to be brushed aside because he's scared of being called a few unpleasant names.'

What Is Englishness?

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty questioned Lowe's argument, pointing to his claim that the English are being demographically replaced across Britain. 'Surely he means England?' Obese-Jecty asked.

The debate began in September, when Reform UK's Suella Braverman said she was not English. She is the daughter of Indian-origin parents whose families came to Britain from Mauritius and Kenya.

'Yes, I was born in England, speak English and support the England football team. And indeed, I love England and the English people,' Braverman said on social media on 22 September 2026. 'But to say I'm English is to take a "laissez-faire, anything-goes" attitude to ethnicity, citizenship and identity. It also denies me my Asian heritage.'

In a recent interview, Farage disagreed with Braverman's position and said that Englishness was an academic debate he did not wish to engage in. 'It's an intellectual debate and argument. It's not one I've ever engaged in, and it's not one I'm gonna engage in. I don't think Suella is necessarily right, but she said what she felt,' Farage said.

Lowe vs. Obese-Jecty

'Acknowledging the existence of the historic English people does not mean denying that others can develop a genuine attachment and belonging to our nation, but that does not make them ethnically English,' Lowe said in a lengthy post challenging Farage's position.

But Obese-Jecty, who was born to a Ghanaian father and a white English mother, questioned what 'ethnically English' means. Who determines ethnic Englishness? Does a person need one English parent or two? Or must all four grandparents be English?

'He implies here that English is an ethnicity and a national identity by virtue of drawing the distinction of "ethnically English", which contradicts the views of his most vocal supporters and is the argument that the mainstream agree [with],' Obese-Jecty said.

With his mixed background, the MP for Huntingdon challenged Lowe to clarify where he stands on people like him. Does Lowe consider him English, or, as Obese-Jecty suggested of some of Lowe's followers, does he believe he should be deported?

The exchange highlights a growing divide on the British right over whether Englishness is defined by ancestry or by a person's connection to the country. While Lowe argues that an historic English identity exists independently of citizenship, Obese-Jecty's challenge raises questions about where that definition draws the line.

With Farage reluctant to enter the debate, the disagreement has exposed differences among right-wing politicians who otherwise share tough positions on immigration.