Labour candidate who fled Somalia as a baby praises refugees affect on Britain
EXCLUSIVE Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee from Somalia, said she was ‘inspired’ Ed Miliband, who had discussed how his parents had fled persecution to come to the UK
Sagal Abdi-Wali is a former child refugee from Somalia(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
Labour’s candidate in Keir Starmer’s old seat has praised Ed Miliband’s conference speech for showing “refugees come from all backgrounds” and bring “so much” to Britain.
Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee from Somalia, said she was “inspired” by the Foreign Secretary’s address in Liverpool, in which he discussed how his parents had fled persecution to come to the UK.
The Labour candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras, who has faced criticism from Reform’s Zia Yusuf over not being born in Britain, also hit out at the “divisive” rhetoric used by Suella Braverman after she was accused of suggesting that non-white people cannot be English.
Speaking to this newspaper, she said: “I was really inspired by it and touched by it. He’s come down a couple of times and we’ve spoken about it.
“Last time he was here we spoke about how much his mother influenced his political thinking and his outlook on life and what he wants to do in terms of the Foreign Secretary brief.
“He’s obviously starting to work on that, making sure that we’re moving in the right direction in terms of fulfilling international law and being on the right side of that.
“I think it sort of touched, for me particularly, the refugee story that his family came from and the link that I have for that and how inspiring that can be. It’s people from all different cultures and backgrounds, and that’s what’s really important.
“I think people maybe sort of assume there’s only one type of refugee, and as he shows, and Lord Alf Dubs showed previously, refugees come from all different backgrounds, different cultures, and bring so much to this country and improve it and help it be in so many ways, and help build our communities, and I’m so proud that I have that background as well.”
Ms Abdi-Wali is facing off with Green Party leader Zack Polanski in the North London seat, with voters going to the polls this Thursday.
Addressing Ms Braverman’s comments, she said: “I think any this sort of language is really divisive, somewhat hateful, and it can just be really corrosive to the general sort of public conversation we have, and I just don’t see the point in it and the need to engage in that.”
“I think as a country, more and more of us are coming together, and it’s having that sort of understanding of who we are as a country, the values that we share, and making our country better and our communities better is what really matters.”
