Black Lives Matter: Government's review into racial equality will also look at 'white working class boys', says No 10

Boris Johnson’s promised review into racial inequalities will also consider wider disparities such as issues facing white working class boys at school, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister used a newspaper article to pledge to establish a cross-governmental commission into eradicating prejudices following weeks of Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the US.

Downing Street said the new Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities would be led by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, and it would report back by the end of the year.

Pressed on the scope of the review, the prime minister’s official spokesman told journalists that it “will look at wider inequalities, including issues facing working class white boys in schools, for example”.

“It will examine continuing racial and ethnic inequalities in Britain,” the spokesman went on.

“The aim is to set out a new policy agenda for change, balancing the needs of individuals, communities and society, maximising opportunities and ensuring fairness for all.”

Mr Johnson announced the plans in an article in The Telegraph defending the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, which was boarded up after being defaced at a recent anti-racist demonstration.

Amid a row over the future of monuments to controversial figures, Mr Johnson urged people not to “photoshop” history and said it was the “height of lunacy” to accuse Churchill of racism.

His proposals for a new commission drew criticism in some quarters, with Labour’s David Lammy demanding action rather than further reviews into racism in the UK.

Mr Lammy, one of the UK’s most prominent black politicians, also condemned Mr Johnson’s choice of language, when he told broadcasters he wanted to change the narrative “so we stop the sense of victimisation and discrimination”.

“It feels that yet again in the UK we want figures, data, but we don’t want action,” Mr Lammy told the Today programme.

“Black people aren’t playing victim, as Boris indicated, they are protesting precisely because the time for review is over, and the time for action is now.”

Former Tory chancellor Sajid Javid said the commission into racial inequality was “very welcome” but warned that “shining a light on injustice isn’t enough”.

He tweeted: “We need an action plan to tackle it. The Racial Disparity Audit found the data. The commission must deliver the solutions.”

Challenged on Mr Johnson’s use of the word “victimisation”, the PM’s spokesman said that he had stressed the importance of “listening to the thousands of people who have marched peacefully”.

The spokesman said: “We can’t ignore the strength of their feelings and we have to look at the discrimination in the education system, health and the criminal justice system.”

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk