Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Foreigners built the NHS - and Britain, too

Foreigners built the NHS - and Britain, too

To suggest otherwise is to ignore the facts

In the spring of 1935, a 41-year-old Indian nanny named Lachhi travelled from Bombay to London aboard the RMS Viceroy of India. She was looking after the children of the Marshall family, with whom she stayed for the summer in Frimley, Surrey. In the autumn, she accompanied Mrs Marshall and the two youngest children back to their primary home in India, where Mr Marshall worked as a merchant. The family stayed in a first class cabin, while things were much less comfortable for Lachhi, who slept on deck.

Presumably, Lacchi and the Marshalls had very different experiences of Britain and its empire.

In India, the Marshall family most likely had comfortable lives, welcomed, even lauded by their compatriots as part of the story of British India. They may not have even regarded themselves foreigners. The “natives” were there to serve them, and to enrich them and Britain.

By contrast, when Lacchi was in Britain as their nanny, she absolutely would have been seen as a foreigner – a second-class outsider, not part of the story of Britain.

But Lacchi – and what she represents – is every bit a part of that story. She and others like her were sources of wealth, innovation and, of course, vast amounts of labour, much of it enslaved. They grew cotton, tea, tobacco and opium, mined diamonds and gold, provided troops in the militaries that kept the British in power and manned the ships that transported all of it. The British children nannies like Lacchi raised, ironically, went on to hold power and reassert the story of who was in and who was on the outside.

I was reminded of Lacchi as UK papers this week discussed “ending reliance on foreigners” by the country’s National Health Service.

The paradox of that pitch is that it comes during this pandemic – when praise and love for the NHS is higher than ever. And the NHS is staffed 14 per cent by foreigners – defined by surveys as “those who say their nationality is not British”. The implication is that the foreign status of these workers is seen as a problem, that Britain may not want them, or does not need them.

It reflects a very peculiar gap in understanding of Britain’s history and how people from abroad have played an absolutely central part in creating the country it is today.

The headlines are particularly jarring because the country recently marked Windrush Day, when the SS Empire Windrush brought the first of many Commonwealth citizens to the UK. Many of the Windrush generations were invited to Britain to fill labour shortages, including shortages in the NHS.

Felicia Kwaku, associate director of Nursing at Kings College NHS Foundation Trust, with her OBE medal for services to nursing at St James's Palace, on June 23, in London.


Britain talks repeatedly about being the plucky champion that won the world wars. But its victory was less plucky, more assured, thanks to the millions-strong from across the Empire who fought for it. Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers fought in the Second World War alone. And it was the colonial subjects – the “foreigners” – that bankrolled victory with coal, iron ore, steel, textiles, money and food.

Foreign contributions – including the ultimate contribution, human life – have been ignored or erased. It was only this year, for example, that the Commonwealth War Graves commission apologised that up to 350,000 predominantly African and Middle Eastern First World War casualties may not have been commemorated by name at all, unlike their “British” counterparts, whose deaths were nearly all recorded.

Britain is a country built through a reliance on foreigners. To think that it is something else, or ever was anything else, or could one day be something else is, in the most charitable reading, an ignorance of basic facts.

It could also be a lack of confidence in what being British actually means, as though that identity requires minimising or erasing the contribution of others.

Or it could be a wilful denial, for political and ideological ends – the promulgation of a myth of exceptionalism and self-reliance in order to claim to be “going it alone”, as though that were the only route to reclaiming greatness.

All of this makes a difference because it means so many in Britain do not know who they are today or how they got there. This failure to understand past interactions and collaborations, and the significance of the role of “foreigners” in how Britain has achieved what it has today, is the reason it is having an identity crisis.

It is entirely possible to believe in the UK and love it, to have faith in its potential, its stature, its identity and its future, and also to rely on and embrace others. It is now more important than ever that we do, because today and tomorrow’s problems are complex and global. To tackle them, we must be, too.

Matt Hancock meets NHS staff at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, June 17. 


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
×