An incredibly disappointing response from the UK Government yesterday, in a statement regarding the recent report of the UK Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, set up in the wake of BLM protests, to review inequality in the UK.
The Commission published its report in March 2021, which “did not find conclusive evidence that [institutional racism] exists” in the areas it examined (i.e. education, employment, crime and policing, health). The report has since been widely condemned, including stinging criticism from the United Nations, from leading charities including the Runnymede Trust and Amnesty International, and 36 Trade Union leaders.
Staggeringly, the Prime Minister described the conclusions of the report as ‘stimulating’ and ‘interesting’. Rather than listening to concerns and working with communities, the PM is shamefully doubling down. It's clear that he has utterly failed to grasp the issue and very real challenges facing ethnic minority communities.
The SNP’s vision is to make Scotland a global leader in diversity and inclusion to increase fairness, tackle inequality, and remove societal disadvantage, including dealing with colonial history and education. To do that, we all need to have an open and honest conversation on race and the systematic and structural issues that perpetuate inequality. All our communities will benefit from that approach.
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