If I were transported into my father's shoes, I would have been a Labour supporter, too, because in the 1960s and even in the 1970s, the Conservatives weren't standing up for working people; there was too much of an interest in corporatism, and that didn't start to change till Margaret Thatcher came along.

My background wasn't an issue for her or for her family. But if someone had said to my parents back in the 1970s that one of their children would have a mixed marriage, I think they'd have thought that was very unusual.

Today, I don't think anyone would think that a mixed-race couple looks odd; I think it's considered perfectly normal. In a very short time frame, the country has changed so much, and for the better. Britain has become, I think, the most tolerant and open-minded country in the world.

Sajid Javid Quotes