Boris Johnson news – live: Race report experts ‘never consulted’ as Doreen Lawrence says findings fuel racism
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Your support makes all the difference.Two authors identified as stakeholders in a landmark report on race disparities in Britain are objecting to being listed as providing evidence for it, with one protesting: “I was never consulted”.
S I Martin said: ““I just would not have agreed to have been consulted even if I had been asked, but I’ve not been asked.” Meanwhile, Stephen Bourne toldThe Independent he felt “manipulated”.
The government has since said it will remove Mr MArtin’s name from the report, but defended inclusion of Mr Bourne as he had “participated in a 10 Downing Street event for Black History Month”.
The government is facing major backlash over the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities’ report, which concluded that Britain was no longer a country where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities.
Doreen Lawrence, who has dedicated nearly two decades to demanding justice after her son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack, has said the report gives “racists the green light”.
Amid the row, Boris Johnson’s most senior Black adviser is expected to resign from his role next month after previously describing tensions within government as “unbearable”.
Downing Street sources have rejected the suggestion that Samuel Kasumu’s resignation was linked to the report.
Meanwhile the government is facing legal action over links between personal protective equipment and alleged modern slavery.
Wilson Solicitors, a London firm, has written to the DHSC raising concerns over how gloves made by Malaysian manufacturers with a history of exploiting workers have been provided to frontline healthcare staff.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’’s live blog tracking the latest developments in UK politics.
Keir Starmer says there is ‘no case’ for rejoining EU
Labour Leader Keir Starmer has said he believes there is “no case” for rejoining the EU now that a Brexit deal has been struck.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Mr Starmer, once a dedicated Remainer, said the “Remain-Leave” debate is over.
“We’ve left. We are no longer a member of the EU. We’ve got a deal, we’ve got to make that deal work,” the Labour leader said.
“There’s no case for rejoining the EU and I’ve been very clear about that. The Remain-Leave debate is over,” he said.
Starmer says ‘British instinct’ against vaccine passports
Keir Starmer has said the use of vaccine passports to open up England’s economy could go against the “British instinct”.
Speaking with The Telegraph, the Labour leader said the government could face backlash from the public if vaccine passports are introduced when the coronavirus outbreak has been brought under control.
“My instinct is that, as the vaccine is rolled out, as the number of hospital admissions and deaths go down, there will be a British sense that we don't actually want to go down this road,” he said.
The Labour leader’s comments came as a government review weighs whether a passport system, which would certify whether or not someone has been vaccinated, could be effective in reopening the economy.
New crime victims’ code comes into effect
A new Victims’ Code aimed at protecting and offering reassurance to victims of crime comes into effect today.
Under the new measure, victims of crime will always be told when an offender is due to leave prison, among other provisions.
The code lays out the minimum expectations that crime victims should have at each stage of the justice process.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has said the new charter should provide relief to crime victims while also laying the groundwork for a new Victims’ Law, which MPs will discuss this summer.
“Our new Code provides victims with a simplified and stronger set of rights - making clear their entitlements at every step of the way as they recover from crime,” he said.
Keir Starmer has not spoken to predecessor Jeremy Corbyn in ‘five months’
Labour Leader Keir Starmer has revealed that he has not spoken with his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, in at least five months.
Mr Starmer made the admission during an interview with The Telegraph.
He did not expand on his relationship with Mr Corbyn.
However, earlier this year, lawyers for Mr Corbyn accused Mr Starmer of having made “inflammatory and disingenuous” attacks on the former Labour leader amid outrage over the party’s handling of antisemitism.
They said that Mr Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour Party “went behind an agreement to reinstate” him “at all levels”.
Prime Boris Johnson is facing major backlash after his race equality commission found that structural racism is not an issue in the UK and made comments that some have said “glorify the slave trade” in an official report.
The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which published its report on Wednesday, said the UK was no longer a country where the “system is deliberately rigged” against ethnic minorities.
Instead, the commission argued that the term “structural racism” was being “too liberally used”.
Read our latest report on the commission’s findings and the backlash the government is facing over the report:
Boris Johnson facing backlash over ‘divisive polemic’ race review
Labour dismissed report from Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities as ‘divisive polemic which cherry picks statistics’
Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser to resign from No 10
Boris Johnson’s most senior Black adviser has told colleagues he will be resigning from his role next month after having previously described tensions within the government as “unbearable”.
Samuel Kasumu, who serves as a special adviser for civil society and communities, notified chief-of-staff Dan Rosenfield about his plan to step down from his role last week, according to Politico.
Downing Street has not commented on the situation, but sources have rejected the possibility that Mr Kasumu’s resignation was linked to the release of a controversial report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which concluded that Britain was no longer a country where the “system is deliberately rigged” against ethnic minorities.
Political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the story:
Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser to resign from No 10
Samuel Kasumu had previously said tensions in government were ‘unbearable’
Samuel Kasumu expected to remain in role until May to help drive vaccine uptake
Samuel Kasumu, Boris Johnson’s most senior Black adviser, is reportedly expected to stay in his post until May in order to continue working on improving vaccine uptake among minority groups.
Mr Kasumu is expected to step down from his role after having previously described tensions within government as “unbearable”, Politico has reported.
Downing Street has not commented on the situation, but sources have rejected the possibility that the decision was linked to a widely condemned report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities finding that structural racism is no longer an issue in Britain.
Downing Street sources insisted to the Press Association that Mr Kasumu’s decision had “absolutely nothing to do with the report”.
Former equality commissioner says calls for change have not been heard by Government
Former equality and human rights commissioner Lord Simon Woolley has said he believes that the Government has failed to hear calls for change led by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Speaking following the release of a report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which found that structural racism is no longer an issue in the UK, Lord Woolley said he felt that the Government has failed to address “cries for change”.
“People like myself, we have seen really, really shocking times, but there were many young people that went to the streets for Black Lives Matter and demanded change,” he told BBC Radio 4’sToday programme.
“And I think, actually, their cries for change and for a nation to confront its inequalities, its uncomfortable truths, has been heard in many ways,” he said. “I don’t think it’s been heard in Government but I do think it’s been heard in businesses.”
Wales residents should ‘think very carefully’ against travelling to England when pubs open, first minister says
First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned Wales residents to “think very carefully” against travelling to England to go to a pub next month due to higher rates of coronavirus.
English pubs and restaurants are set to reopen for outdoor service starting 12 April, two weeks before they are able to do the same in Wales.
Appearing to sense that some in Wales might feel drawn to England’s pubs, Mr Drakeford told the PA news agency: “Rates of coronavirus in Wales are the lowest in the United Kingdom. They are higher in England and the highest in the north-west of England.
“You would definitely be visiting somewhere where the risks were higher. We know there is a variant of this virus in Bristol, which so far we’ve managed to keep out of Wales completely,” he said.
“My message to people thinking about travelling across the border in that couple of weeks before things are opening in Wales is to think very carefully about it. You really will not have long to wait before you’re able to enjoy exactly the same sorts of things in Wales where the current state of the virus is more benign.”
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