Black History Month

James Asser Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mims Davies]

Hear, hear! A little further on in my speech, I will mention some of that, but I have certainly learned even more from my right hon. Friend.

[James Asser (West Ham and Beckton) (Lab)]

The hon. Lady mentioned the importance of the Windrush generation and the Windrush story to the start of the story of Black History Month. My constituency is one of the most diverse in the country, and long has been. In the 1920s, we had the biggest black population in London, but our black history prior to the second world war is often forgotten. Does she agree that we need to do more to celebrate, and to remind people and teach them about, that longer history?

[Mims Davies]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I think that point makes the importance of today’s debate apparent. We on the Opposition Benches and all MPs in this House are so keen to champion our constituents and what we know of them, and he has given us another a great example.

To turn to our NHS, 7.4% of people employed in the NHS are black people. Indeed, when faced with acute staff shortages, the Government called on Caribbean women to fill those gaps: 5,000 were working on hospital wards within 10 years, and by the 1970s two thirds of student nurses and midwives originated from the Caribbean. The Minister rightly talked about health disparities, and the massive focus we must have on them, whether in maternal health—that was raised at the birth trauma event just this week—the menopause, or in understanding intersectionality. Professor Laura Serrant used her very moving poem “You Called…and We came” to point out what we owe to the generations of black people who came from overseas and have given and continue to give the best of their lives—and, indeed, their food and culture —to this country, as well as having really added to our labour market.

We know that the experience of black people in this country has been long, and at times complex and difficult, but we know that the more we learn and the more we work together, the more that is changing. In fact, the first black MP is believed to have been elected back in 1767. Many will know the story of Mary Seacole and her remarkable role in the Crimean war, which we now understand and celebrate much more. Such an awareness, as has been raised already in the Chamber today, is key.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) said, in our darkest hours we have turned to our friends to support us, and it is estimated that 16,000 Caribbean men stepped up and fought for Britain during the second world war, while half a million Africans served in both combative and non-combative roles during the same conflict. One long overdue narrative we must talk about is that 800 million people from the Commonwealth stood together against the greatest evil of racism that has ever been known, and the Minister alluded to that in her speech. As we know, contemporary attitudes have sometimes airbrushed many black British stories out of our history and our understanding, so challenging and understanding such narratives continues, sadly, to be very important.

While we accept and celebrate the progress, it is very important that we continue to challenge any complacency, and while we reflect on the changes we have seen, we need to do more. In fact, appalling racism and abuse were displayed in the 2021 Euro finals—not that long ago—and I applaud and thank the charities and groups that continue to stand up against this abhorrent abuse. There is an opportunity with the Online Safety Act 2023 to continue to work with social media companies to crack down on racist abuse and make it clear that it has no place in this country.

To conclude, as a Minister in the Government Equalities Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, I focused on young people and social mobility, arguing that their postcode, what they look like, their background and their network should never hold them back. We should all continue to work incredibly hard to tackle racist abuse and make sure that we fix the long-standing racial disparities, so the Minister has my support and my party’s support on this. I am particularly proud that, when we left office, we had delivered 62 of the 74 actions in the British action plan on racial disparities. However, as the Minister said, there is more to do.

I look forward to the contributions of Members in this important debate, as we celebrate Black History Month in this House and, importantly, look to the future.