Jawad Iqbal

Jawad Iqbal

Jawad Iqbal is a broadcaster and ex-television news executive. Jawad is a former Visiting Senior Fellow in the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE

Saturday

Jawad Iqbal

Rishi Sunak will have a tougher time than he thinks in India

Rishi Sunak, the first British leader of Indian descent, has to walk an unenviable political tightrope at this weekend’s G20 Summit in India. It is Sunak’s first visit to the country as prime minister, and Indians have given him the kind of welcome usually reserved for an all-conquering hero returning home. Sunak himself acknowledged that the trip was ‘special’. This mutual fawning aside, Sunak’s Indian roots actually make his task of securing the best trade deal for Britain in talks with India that little bit harder.  Indians clearly love the idea that Sunak has risen to the top in Britain, treating him as one of their own, even though he was born in Hampshire. The story of his roots is what matters to Indians.

Friday

Jawad Iqbal

The Premier League is in denial about Saudi Arabia

Not all fans of Newcastle United are prepared to turn a blind eye to the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s takeover of the club. The campaign group, NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS), plans to stage a protest outside St James’ Park in Newcastle ahead of Saudi Arabia’s friendly against Costa Rica tonight. It wants to prick the consciences of fellow fans but, if past protests are anything to go by, only a handful of Newcastle’s huge fan base will turn up. It is a lonely battle at the best of times when football supporters of any team take a stand based on morality in a money-obsessed sport.

Thursday

Jawad Iqbal

It would be madness for Modi to change India’s name

India’s rulers are apparently unhappy with the country’s name and appear determined to do away with it altogether. They would prefer it if everyone – not just in India but across the rest of the world – used the name 'Bharat' when referring to it. Changing India’s name is political madness, amounting to nothing more than a divisive ploy dreamt up by Hindu nationalists for short term gain.  Rumours of an imminent name change have been flying after official invites for the G20 summit asked leaders to join the 'president of Bharat' for dinner. Officials also used the term in a handbook – called 'Bharat, The Mother of Democracy' – issued to foreign delegates heading to the summit.

Tuesday

Jawad Iqbal

Labour can’t pass the buck for Birmingham’s troubles

Whose fault is it that Labour-controlled Birmingham city council, the country’s biggest local authority, is now effectively bankrupt? The answer, according to the council’s leaders, is that it is anyone and everyone’s fault except their own. It is the fault of the government for imposing funding cuts over the last decade, the ballooning costs of rolling out a new IT system, and a historic equal pay settlement that is proving impossible to fund. In other words, it is nothing to do with those actually elected to run Birmingham. Is anyone surprised that politicians are held in such low esteem by the voters?  The bare facts are these. The council has issued a section 114 notice, signalling that it does not have the money to balance its budget.

Jawad Iqbal

Are civil servants taking their revenge?

Jonathan Slater, a former top mandarin at the Department for Education (DfE), has laid the blame for the school building safety crisis fairly and squarely at the door of the Prime Minister. It is an extraordinary public intervention by a former senior civil servant in an ongoing political controversy: former mandarins of Slater’s rank are normally reluctant to speak out directly on political matters, or to openly criticise ministers they worked for. That, at any rate, used to be the rule, but perhaps no longer. This raises huge questions about the impartiality of the civil service and the day-to-day workings of government.

Thursday

Jawad Iqbal

It’s laughable for Greeks to say the Elgins are at risk

It is safe to say that there is very little chance of the Elgin Marbles turning up for sale on eBay anytime soon. Even those charged with running the British Museum, currently embroiled in a growing scandal over stolen and missing artefacts, would presumably spot them on the site. That is why it is simply laughable for Greek experts to claim the precious sculptures are at risk after the embarrassing disclosure of a series of thefts from the institution. Leading the charge is Despina Koutsoumba, the head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, who argues the marbles would be far safer off in Greece. Well, she would think that, wouldn’t she?

Wednesday

Jawad Iqbal

Why India wants to conquer the moon

India – or, to be more precise, its leader Narendra Modi – wants to conquer space. That is why the success of the country’s latest moon mission matters so much. Only three countries – the United States, the former Soviet Union and China – have completed a successful landing on the lunar surface. No country has ever managed a landing near the moon’s south pole – a treacherous and freezing landscape, covered in darkness. India has long harboured the dream of being the first nation to do so, demolishing once and for all hurtful aspersions that it is a minnow in the space race. There is big money to be made in space research All eyes have been on Chandrayaan-3, ‘moon vehicle’ in Sanskrit and Hindi, since it lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in mid-July.

Saturday

Jawad Iqbal

Should Rishi host MBS?

22 min listen

Downing Street has extended an invite to Mohammed bin Salman to visit the UK in Autumn. Five years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, is it time to let Saudi Arabia in from the cold? Fraser Nelson speaks to Simon Mayall, a former Middle East adviser in the Ministry of Defence, and to Jawad Iqbal, a Spectator contributor.

Friday

Jawad Iqbal

Who cares if Prince William isn’t at the World Cup final?

It is absurd to suggest that Prince William’s non-attendance at the Women’s World Cup final in Australia on Sunday is some great public scandal. He faces growing pressure to cut short his family holiday and jet over to Australia pronto. Some critics have even gone as far as to claim that, if William doesn’t do so, he will somehow be guilty of letting the side – and by implication the nation – down.  The argument goes something like this. As president of the Football Association – the suits who run the English game – the heir to the throne is responsible for promoting the sport nationally and internationally at all levels. There is nothing awful about William watching the match on television alongside millions of other fans Well, so what?

Thursday

Jawad Iqbal

Why is Rishi rolling out the red carpet for MBS? 

Why is the government so keen for Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, to visit Britain? Or, as the television comedian and interviewer Mrs Merton might have put it to Rishi Sunak: ‘So, what first attracted you to the stupendously wealthy Saudi leader?’   Bin Salman's visit is expected to take place this autumn but as yet there is no firm date. The precise timing will be up to the Saudis, with Britain reduced to playing the part of an anxious host desperate to please. Global leaders including Sunak appear to have no real measure of the man they’re dealing with This would be the first visit by the crown prince (universally referred to as MBS) since the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Wednesday

Jawad Iqbal

Modi’s cheetah rewilding project is coming unstuck

Political vanity projects come in all shapes and forms but invariably turn out badly. One such is India’s 'Project Cheetah', a madcap scheme to reintroduce cheetahs to the country after an absence of just over 70 years. It has the personal backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made it an issue of national prestige, which means it is all but impossible for anyone in authority to acknowledge that things are not quite going to plan. So far, eight cheetahs have died out of a total of 20 imported from Africa and questions are growing about the reasons behind the deaths. There are even claims of an official cover up by the Indian authorities to spare the blushes of the country’s all-powerful ruler.

Monday

Jawad Iqbal

Sunak’s mother-in-law has divided India with her views on spoons

Sudha Murty, the Indian billionaire and philanthropist, who also happens to be Rishi Sunak’s mother-in-law, has something of a fixation with the cleanliness of spoons. Speaking on a popular food show, Murty revealed herself to be quite the tyrant in the kitchen: 'I am a pure vegetarian, I don’t even eat eggs or garlic. What I am scared of is that the same spoon will be used for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. It weighs on my mind a lot!' The sensible reaction to these somewhat innocuous comments might be to think Murty a touch obsessional, and wonder at the impractical and time-consuming nature of her kitchen habits.

Friday

Jawad Iqbal

Iran’s morality police can’t save the mullahs forever

Iran’s so-called morality police, loathed and feared in equal measure, are back patrolling the streets of the country. They temporarily disappeared from view in the wake of the widespread public protests over the death last September of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman. She was arrested and beaten, and subsequently died in police custody. Her crime? Not wearing the hijab 'properly'. She had a few strands of hair showing, enough to be deemed a violation of the strict dress code for women. She paid for this with her life.  Iran’s leaders were rattled by the furious public reaction to her death. Thousands marched in protest, demanding rights and protections for women and a repeal of the oppressive hijab laws.

Wednesday

Jawad Iqbal

India’s sinister attempt to censor Oppenheimer

Anurag Thakur, India’s information and broadcasting minister, is hopping mad about a sex scene in Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster film Oppenheimer. The offending segment shows Cillian Murphy, who plays the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer, reciting a famous line from the sacred Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita while making love. 'I am become death, destroyer of worlds,' he declares, the same words he reportedly used after the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. The angry minister, turned film critic, wants the scene cut from the movie because he deems it disrespectful to Hindus and their faith. The Gita is revered among Hindus and its teachings are passed down through the generations, largely through word of mouth.

Saturday

Jawad Iqbal

Sunak is wrong to invite MBS to London

Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the Saudi throne, certainly leads a charmed life. He spent several days in Paris last month meeting the French president Emmanuel Macron. This has now been followed up with a reported invitation from Rishi Sunak to visit Britain this autumn. It would be the first such high-level diplomatic trip since the Saudi crown prince was accused of being behind the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi. He has always denied involvement. The timing of his visit could hardly be worse: it would roughly coincide with the fifth anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder, serving to confirm that the brutal killing is all but forgotten and that the Saudis are back in the diplomatic fold.

Friday

Jawad Iqbal

Why won’t James Cleverly stand up to Iran?

The Foreign Office is making a big mistake in failing to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist group. The 100,000 strong organisation, the most powerful wing of Iran’s security apparatus, was established after the 1979 Islamic revolution. For decades it has been at the heart of Iranian support for global terrorism on foreign soil, including the UK and Europe. It also arms and supports militant groups across the Middle East. By any rational measure the group meets all the criteria for a ban under the 2000 Terrorism Act. Yet the Foreign Office continues to avoid the necessary step of proscribing the revolutionary guards, despite fresh evidence from MI5 of its growing menace.

Tuesday

Jawad Iqbal

Aussie cricketers have nothing to apologise for

The world of cricket suffers from an unjustified moral superiority complex. This explains the periodic howls of outrage when a player or team is caught acting in a manner summed up by the phrase ‘it’s not cricket’ — a catch-all sentiment that purports to speak of some higher purpose than just winning. The self-appointed cricket purists really need to put a sock in it The latest example is the overblown reaction to the Australian cricket team’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow when the England batsman appeared to believe the ball was not in play during the final day of the second Ashes test. Even Rishi Sunak couldn’t resist the temptation to wade in.

Sunday

Jawad Iqbal

Prepare for the Saudi tennis takeover

The self-serving ethical blind spots of some of those in charge of running international sport never ceases to amaze. Step forward Andrea Gaudenzi, a former top 20 singles player who now leads the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the global governing body of the men’s circuit. Gaudenzi recently revealed that tennis officials have been in discussions with Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund on projects including events, infrastructure and technology investment. He described the talks  as 'positive', before adding predictable reassurances that any investors had to respect the history of the sport. Is there a sport left that stands for anything more than just succumbing to Saudi Arabia's latest big money offer?

Wednesday

Jawad Iqbal

Nato’s leadership race is a miserable advert for the alliance

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, has conceded defeat in his bid to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as secretary-general of Nato. Wallace had been a strong contender for the job, owing to his role in supporting Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. But now it seems the role will go to a character in the mould of the incumbent, a compromise candidate who least offends the countries doing the choosing. The role is simply too big and important to be left to this kind of petty box-ticking and political horse trading. Wallace appeared to suggest, in an interview with the Economist, that he faced opposition to his candidacy from America and France. The next secretary-general, he said, was 'going to have to please both Macron and Biden'.

Thursday

Jawad Iqbal

Joe Biden is wrong to roll out the red carpet for Narendra Modi

On taking office, Joe Biden promised a new approach to foreign policy based on prioritising democratic values and human rights. The US president spoke of 'the battle between democracy and autocracy' as the defining struggle of the time, effectively dividing the world into two clear and opposing camps. Now Biden is having to eat his own words by playing host to Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India. It would be a stretch to describe Modi as a standard bearer for human rights or Western democratic values.  Even so, Modi is being given the red carpet treatment in Washington, including the honour of making an address to a joint session of Congress. The state visit for the Indian leader is only the third Biden has held during his presidency.