THE UNITED Nations has slammed the UK for failing to tackle racism against children, as Rishi Sunak’s government insisted it was making “great strides” to become an “inclusive society.”

The UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised the potential impact of the government’s Illegal Migration Bill, warning Westminster not to “criminalise” children of asylum seekers.

The UN said it remained “deeply concerned about persistent discrimination” suffered by young people in Britain, including the over-representation of Black young people in poverty.

In separate developments, Britain’s Ambassador James Kariuki told a UN’s Forum on People of African Descent the UK government was working on an action plan which builds on the much-criticised Sewell Report.

Kariuki also rejected the demand for reparations, saying: “The United Kingdom believes that we must respond to the cruelty of the past by ensuring that current and future generations learn from it.”

The UN committee yesterday criticised Britain for racial disparities of young people in the criminal justice system and the need to address racism and bullying against “minority groups and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children”.

Inequalities in school exclusions was also highlighted, with the UN arguing it should be a “last resort”, and called on the government to get to grips with the “overrepresentation of children belonging to minority groups, children with autism and children with learning disabilities in inpatient mental health care”.