Inclusive Britain: Forged in denial, the government’s action plan on race has failed before it’s begun

The government’s new action plan on race has been launched — but its scope for improving the lives of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities is woefully limited because it is based on the premise that institutional racism doesn’t exist in Britain.

Dubbed ‘Inclusive Britain’, the 97-page document sets out ministers’ 70-point plan to tackle racial disparities based on recommendations set out in the widely-discredited race report produced by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED).

Some of the points in the plan sound pleasing to the ear, such as addressing hair discrimination in schools and a cash injection for school pupils who have fallen behind during the pandemic. But many of the proposals lack substance, detail and urgency.

For example, it purports to act upon a recommendation for the government to “bridge divides and create partnerships between the police and communities” but without acknowledging the root cause of breakdown of trust - concerns around institutional racism in policing - how will this be achieved? Even Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), recently warned of the damaging effect distrust in British policing in Black communities is having on the effectiveness of law enforcement.

In the foreword, Ms Badenoch sets a worrying, rather patronising tone for the action plan on top of its shoddy foundation of systemic racism denial. Of the CRED report, she writes: “Some of the report’s conclusions were relatively uncontroversial. Others challenged the lazy consensus. It lived up to the maxim of the author and economist Thomas Sowell that ‘when you want to help people, you tell them the truth…When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.’”

What is the ‘lazy consensus’ exactly, if not an attack on opinions held by the masses on race? And, by citing this particular quote, is the minister infantalising people by suggesting that those who highlight institutional racism in Britain, and have lived experience of this, don’t know what’s good for them?

“The events of summer 2020 showed that many people believe certain systems are flawed or actively rigged against them – be it in the workplace, in education, or the criminal justice system,” the minister continued. Is Ms Badenoch saying that people’s beliefs are wrong and this notion is a mistake?

If the minister, commission and government are clearly out of step with the people who they’re claiming to help through this report and strategy - i.e. those who “believe” that they’re affected by systemic racism - then how effective does the Government Equalities Offices expect this strategy to be?

Many of the proposals outlined in the plan will be delivered by the Cabinet Office.

However, according to its own survey of staff in January - leaked to The Independent this week - the department has the joint highest incidents of bullying and harassment in Whitehall. How can this department, which describes itself as being at the heart of Government, be involved in tackling racism?

Specifically, the Race Disparity Unit will be involved in carrying out work under the Inclusive Britain strategy. For example, it will engage with service providers, international organisations and experts to better measure and monitor online racist abuse.

Unfortunately, despite its previous positive work in delivering the Race Disparity Audit under Theresa May in 2017, a senior member of the unit was recently implicated in a high-profile race discrimination involving Kay Badu, a senior civil servant eventually paid a six figure sum by the Cabinet Office in a pre-tribunal settlement.

Through this strategy, ministers plan to invest in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and strengthen its enforcement activity to challenge race discrimination through investigations and supporting individual cases.

But do they expect the EHRC — long regarded as a “toothless organisation” in any case — to have the confidence of those concerned about systemic racism in Britain?

Several action plan points set out aims to boost school attainment which would be welcomed by one and all. But racism in schools is pervasive and many Black and Asian parents express concern about this. It’s also entrenched. Of course, there’s no mention of tackling that across these points. This is a very topical matter given details about the harrowing case of Child Q, the Black schoolgirl who was strip searched by the Metropolitan Police, coming to light on Monday.

Indeed, speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon, Labour’s shadow equalities minister Taiwo Owatemi said: “This strategy fails to deliver for Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl from Hackney who faced the most appalling treatment at the hands of the police, with racism very likely to have been an influencing factor.

“When the Government publishes a flawed report and then churns out an inadequate strategy a whole year after, these are the very people it is failing.”

The plan outlines proposals to increase police presence in schools through the introduction of a so-called ‘Mini Police’ which, given ongoing concerns about law enforcement in learning environments, is an alarming prospect in the context of Child Q and broader racial disparities in policing.

Meanwhile, the strategy illustrates ministerial ignorance, at best, regarding realities on the ground through claims that higher rates of stop and search among certain groups shouldn’t in itself be cause for concern and suggestions that the avalanche of data pointing to disproportionate use of this tactic needs more “context”.

The plan submits an intention to compile a white paper on tackling health disparities - however the CRED report on which it’s based claimed that disproportionately high Covid death rates among some minority ethnic groups were largely because of “external factors” such as being employed in a public facing role - without connecting the dots between that and structural inequalities.

In fact, all in all, Inclusive Britain conveniently sidesteps some of the more egregious assertions put forward in the CRED report which yielded deserved criticism and rendered it, as I’ve said before, one of the most widely-accursed, Government-backed pieces of literature in political history.

Moreover, the strategy fails to implement mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, despite repeated calls from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the TUC and various business leaders to do just that. This is unjustifiable.

Earlier this week, fresh research reported exclusively by The Independent revealed that ethnicity pay gap data will not be widely published by companies in the UK until 2075 unless the Government intervenes and makes it mandatory for businesses.

It’s simply not enough for ministers to hold the hands of companies who feel like being transparent about racial disparities in pay; the suggestion is insulting.