Labour has an opportunity to change the lives for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage people, but there is a lot of work to be done.
On July 4th , Labour won the General Election by a landslide. In the lead up to the monumental win, a number of key promises were made around race – particularly with the announcement of a Race Equality Act.
Action for Race Equality are glad to welcome Anneliese Dodds and Bridget Phillipson into their roles as Minister for Women and Equalities. However, we are concerned that their roles are only part-time, with Anneliese Dodds also acting as Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Bridget Phillipson also acting as Secretary of State for Education.
A full-time Secretary of State for Women & Equalities and a Minister for Race Equality is urgently needed if this government truly wants to end racial discrimination.
The General Election coincided with an evidence submission that Action for Race Equality made to the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
In our submission, we set out the failures of the UK to address institutional and systemic racism, racial discrimination across Education, Employment, and Criminal Justice, and to deliver Windrush justice.
Over 30 organisations endorsed our submission, which made recommendations the UN will consider in its upcoming examination of the UK in August this year.
Racial inequality in the United Kingdom (UK) is rampant and unending, and the UK government has been complicit in failing to end racism and allowing institutionalised racism to continue. There have been continuous attempts to deny and diminish the realities of racism by the Government, including the publication of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report which dismissed the systemic nature of racism in the UK, as well as comments made by senior figures within Government which indicate a divestment in crucial EDI initiatives. Instead of embracing opportunities to improve outcomes for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage communities in the UK, there has been a fundamental lack of effective action, or in some cases decisions which worsen the issues experienced by these communities.”
Action for Race Equality submission to CERD
We look forward to working with the new government to ensure policies are effectively implemented to end racial discrimination.
You can read our full submission here.
Author: Meka Beresford, Head of Policy
