Paper ‘completely irresponsible and immoral’
GMB Union has described today’s delayed Downing Street Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published as ‘gaslighting’ Black Asian Minority and Ethnic workers and communities.
GMB union recently published its own report to the EHRC inquiry into racial inequality in health and social care workplaces which, amongst other recommendations, called for Section 1 of the Equality Act to finally be implemented which would ensure that public bodies adopt effective and transparent policies to reduce the inequalities that result from socio-economic or class disadvantage.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said:
“Only this government could produce a report on race in the 21st Century that actually gaslights Black Asian Minority and Ethnic people and communities.
“This feels like a deeply cynical report that not only ignores Black and Ethnic minority workers’ worries and concerns.
“But is part of an election strategy to divide working class people and voters. It’s completely irresponsible and immoral.
“Institutional racism exists, it’s the lived experience of millions of black and ethnic minority workers. We’re paid less, we’re more likely to be in high-risk jobs during the pandemic, we’re more likely to die from covid, we’re more likely to be stopped and searched, to be arrested and to go to prison.
“How can we ever tackle the problem if the Government are not prepared to accept it exists?
“Only yesterday Boris Johnson was thanking Sir Lenny Henry when he said Black people have legitimate worries and concerns, that change needed to happen and that it's hard to trust some of our institutions and authorities.
“What has happened overnight? The conclusion many will come to is the Government simply doesn’t care.
“The other question we have to ask is who Sir Lenny was referring to when he said Black people found it hard to trust some of our institutions and authorities and change was needed?
“A change of Prime Minister then must be top of that list.”
