Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Matthew Pennycook Excerpts

Tuesday 20th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

My right hon. Friend is right. It is important that we in Government do not inadvertently promote people who are pushing divisive narratives, and I will look into his request and see what we can do across the House and across Government.

It is interesting that my right hon. Friend, too, raises the Runnymede Trust. He might not be aware of this, but the Equality and Human Rights Commission has written an open letter to the Runnymede Trust. In its letter of 12 April, its chair states that the Runnymede Trust made “unsubstantiated allegations” about the EHRC, questioned its “impartiality and impact” and impugned its credibility. The letter also said that the Runnymede Trust showed “an apparent misunderstanding” about the EHRC’s

“mandate as set out in statute”.

I was really shocked to read the commissioners’ letter and to learn that the Runnymede Trust had even asked—or certainly implied—that the EHRC should be defunded, which is surely the opposite of what a charity focused on improving race relations should want, and the complete opposite of its objectives, which goes to the point that my right hon. Friend made.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

In the light of the job statistics released this morning indicating that young people and London have been particularly hard hit over the past 12 months, the issue of ethnic minority employment and pay prospects is pressing for many of my constituents. The report paints a largely positive story of an overall convergence between minorities and the white majority when it comes to employment and pay, yet the official data makes it perfectly clear that the situation has not markedly improved when viewed over decades. For example, the unemployment rate for black people has consistently been more than double the rate for white people over the past 20 years. How, then, does the Minister believe that the report’s claims in this area can be squared with what the available evidence clearly illustrates, which is that structural racial inequalities remain a stubborn feature of our labour market?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for engaging with some of the contents of the report rather than in divisive rhetoric. The answer to part of the question is that many of those statistics do not control for age. In this country, black people are much younger than the rest of the population, and that often ends up skewing some of the statistics. The report paints a picture of a continuing improvement and convergence, but the employment section is the bit that highlights the most significant problems, and there is quite a lot to do on that front. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to look at some of the recommendations and to let us know whether he agrees or disagrees. Before Government respond, I would encourage Members to put forward their suggestions, based on the evidence that the commission has produced, for what we should be doing.