The damning Black People Racism and Human Rights report was published on 11 November by House of Commons and House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights – the UK Human Rights Committee. The Committee have stated that the government must take urgent action and called out previous government reports on racism as at best ineffectively implemented, at worst a delay tactic to avoid taking action. Anti Racist Cumbria are disappointed but not surprised by the findings in the report
Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Harriet Harman said:
“Where actions have been taken, they have often been superficial and not had lasting effect.
“The lack of progress in implementing the findings of those reviews has become a source of intense frustration and concern.”
The Committee called on the government to take immediate action, and set out a detailed race equality strategy.
“Our recommendations focus on what needs to happen now to drive forward the implementation of recommendations from existing reports to deliver lasting change and protect Black people’s human rights. While Black people’s human rights are at risk across a wide range of issues, in the inquiry we have focused on concerns in four key areas: the criminal justice system, immigration, health, and democracy.”
What are the key findings?
- The headline finding from the polling was that the majority (over 75%) of Black people in the UK do not believe their human rights are equally protected compared to white people.
- 85% of black people are not confident that they would be treated the same as a white person by the police.
- Over 60% of Black people in the UK do not believe their health is as equally protected by the NHS compared to white people.
- The death rate for Black women in childbirth is five times higher than for white women. The NHS acknowledge and regret this disparity but have no target to end it.
- The committee expect the Government to fulfil its promise to implement the recommendations from the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, in full, as a matter of urgency
- 25% of Black voters in Great Britain are not registered to vote compared to a 17% average across the population. The committee urge the Government to consult on the introduction of automatic voter registration with the aim of reducing this disparity.
- In 2018/2019 Black people were 9.5 times more likely than White people to be stopped and searched by police in England and Wales
- In 2018/2019 Black people in England and Wales were more than five times as likely to have force used against them by police as White people and were subject to the use of Tasers at almost eight times the rate of White people.
- As of June 2020, 7.7% of the prison population were Black despite the comprising 3.4% of the population in England and Wales.
- Black children aged 10-17 are more than four times more likely to be arrested, three times more likely to be given a caution or sentence. The Youth Custody population is 28% Black.
What key actions have they asked for?
When asked what actions they think could have a positive impact on how the human rights of Black people are protected, the top three actions selected by Black people were:
i) More Black leaders in decision-making roles;
ii) More equal education [opportunities] for Black people; and
iii) People from outside of the Black community challenging unacceptable violations of Black people’s human rights.
Too often recommendations made in these reports have not been implemented and where actions have been taken, they have been superficial and not had lasting effect. Baroness Lawrence summed up the frustration felt by many when she told the committee:
“We have had so many reports, and every time we have a report, they go back to the beginning again and keep repeating the same thing. I am not sure how many more lessons the Government need to learn. It is not just the
Government of today but the Government of the Labour Party. How many more lessons do we all need to learn? The lessons are there already for us to implement. Until we start doing that, we will keep coming back in a year or two years repeating the same thing over and over again.”
READ THE FULL REPORT HERE
What are Anti Racist Cumbria’s thoughts on the report?
Chair Janett Walker said;
I can only agree with what others have said about previous reports, reviews audits and inquiries. Even now the Government has set up yet another task force – this time the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities who are expected to report by the end of the year. The problems have all been clearly identified and solutions have been suggested. Put simply it’s time to take action. Anti Racist Cumbria believe the way forward now is to put in place a national high profile organisation to champion, press for progress and have real powers to hold appropriate bodies and individuals accountable. Coupled with that the national organisation needs to work closely with county organisations and networks who operate on a local level fulfilling a similar role to ensure unity across the country.
What is the Joint Committee on Human Rights?
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is appointed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons to consider matters relating to human rights in the United Kingdom (but excluding consideration of individual cases); proposals for remedial orders, draft remedial orders and remedial orders. The Joint Committee has a maximum of six Members appointed by each House, of whom the quorum for any formal proceedings is two from each House.
