Why Elon Musk cares about Britain’s sinking reputation 

Diaspora politics is a funny old thing, a form of loyalty that is often coloured by nostalgia and deeply unconnected with the reality back home. It can be especially prickly but also amusing. The growth of ‘cultural appropriation’ as a concept was often driven by third generation East Asians in North America who had assimilated and lost their ancestral culture and language and were over-compensating. Their parents didn’t care about such perceived slights, and even welcomed outsiders attempting to mimic their clothes or cuisine, as most people would.

Thanks to globalisation, diaspora politics now plays a huge part in democracies almost everywhere, with protests in East London about Bangladeshi politics, Germany’s Turks animated by events back home and British elections fought over the status of Kashmir. Every couple of months there are fights somewhere in Europe between supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s regime, much to the bemusement of everyone, and of course the most prominent example of diaspora politics – of the ummah rather than old country – are the repeated protests in favour of the Palestinian cause.