LABOUR HAS accused the government of failing to understand the impact of economic inequality on the health of black Britons.

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Taiwo Owatemi was speaking to The Voice following the recent publication of the damning Coronavirus: lessons learned to date.

The report, by the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee and the Commons Science and Technology Committee, examined the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in England.

Public health failures

It found that the government’s failures of preparation and planning to stop Covid spreading early in the pandemic and the delay in introducing the first lockdown was one of the country’s worst public health failures costing thousands of lives.

The report also examined the impact of the pandemic on black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. Figures released last year found that people from BAME backgrounds faced almost twice the risk of death from Covid-19 than white people.

Campaigners have pointed to likelihood of underlying health conditions, overcrowded  housing and  the overrepresentation of black, Asian and minority ethnic people in careers such as health and social care, public transport and other professions more likely to be exposed to the virus as an explanation for the disproportionately high death rates of BAME people from Covid-19.

Coronavirus: lessons learned to date appeared to confirm these factors.

Owatemi said: “This government simply does not understand the severe impact that inequality continues to have upon Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people’s health.

“Throughout the pandemic, Labour has called upon ministers to implement measures to protect people at greater risk from Covid-19, and for a proactive Covid-19 inequalities strategy. But we are still waiting for them to act.”

The wide-ranging 145 page report said: “Research conducted so far suggests that the drivers of these elevated levels of impact among Black, Asian and minority ethnic people arise from greater likelihood of jobs that come with higher exposure to COVID infection; more challenging social and economic circumstances; more densely occupied housing; and co-morbidities from different health conditions.

“These are classic features of inequality in society and in the economy.”

Owatemi re-iterated Labour’s call for a full public inquiry and legislation designed to tackle race inequality.

Following these alarming findings, a full public inquiry into the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic must start as soon as possible.

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Taiwo Owatemi

She said: “This report echoes the findings of Labour’s Baroness Doreen Lawrence Review which showed that Black Asian and Minority Ethnic people were disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic due to underlying inequalities in housing, work and economic deprivation – inequalities that have widened over the last decade of Conservative rule.

Structural inequalities

“Following these alarming findings, a full public inquiry into the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic must start as soon as possible. The next Labour government will introduce a Race Equality Act to tackle structural inequalities.”

Tory MPs Greg Clark and Jeremy Hunt, who chair the cross-party committees, said: “The UK response has combined some big achievements with some big mistakes. It is vital to learn from both to ensure that we perform as best as we possibly can during the remainder of the pandemic and in the future.”