LEADING BLACK MPs and race equality campaigners have criticised the Labour party over failing to deliver on previous promises to include policy measures that will address issues faced by the Black community in its forthcoming election manifesto.

In recent years a number of commentators and party activists have claimed that the Labour, historically reliant on the unwavering support of Black voters, is under scrutiny for taking this support for granted, with concerns raised about its commitment to addressing the specific concerns of the Black community.

In 2020, the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer first announced plans for a new ‘Race Equality Act’.

Three years later, in February 2023, The Voice learned  about a taskforce chaired by Baroness Doreen Lawrence set up to thrash out details of the Race Equality Act.

By June of the same year Shadow Secretary for Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodds MP, part of the group told The Voice  plans were finally being worked out and would form a “core part” of Labour’s plan.

Fast forward to January 2024, however, almost 4 years after the initial announcement and Black communities remain in the dark.

No concrete manifesto pledges have been confirmed and no draft White Paper, the policy documents produced by the government that set out their proposals for future legislation. have been seen by anyone.

With a general election just months away, many are doubt that the points talked up by Labour will make the manifesto and some have questioned if any real plan exists.

Among them is Hackney and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott. She remains ousted  from the party last year after having the whip removed from her last year in what many view as a deliberate attempt to prevent her standing for the party at the forthcoming General Election.

Substance

She said it was critical that the party provide some substance on plans for race equality legislation.

“I haven’t actually seen the draft Race Equality Act and no one has” she told The Voice. “I think we need to do something about policing and stop and search. The disproportionate level of stop and search of people of colour remains as high as it was when I first entered politics.  And we should also be talking about education. Black children particularly African Caribbean boys are being failed in school and they are underachieving in school.

“They take us for granted. It’s pretty obvious that Keir Starmer doesn’t care about Black people.  Look at how they deal with Diane Abbott. They’ve shown their cards really internally and externally, policy wise.”

Professor Kehinde Andrews

“Currently nothing is being done about it. The manifesto should at least acknowledge that there is this issue with Black boys.”

When pressed on why, Abbott echoed what other race equality campaigners think about what has shifted in the party’s priorities.

“I think they are focused on Red Wall voters, and they think those voters are all White which is not the case.  I think there’s a danger that ignoring ethnic minority voters at the next election could cost the party.”

Abbott also pointed to the hierarchy of racism within the party and the fact many are angry at a lack of action following damning findings of the Forde report, a report commissioned by Starmer to examine allegations of bullying, racism and sexism within the Labour party.

Professor and author Kehinde Andrews is more forthright about what the uncertainty surrounding the promised race equality legislation says about how important the Black community is to the party.

“Keir Starmer doesn’t care about Black people” he said. “Labour just say what they need to say. 

“Post George Floyd, they came out and said let’s do equalities.  But when it comes to the election, it is all about the Red Wall and the culture wars.  But that’s the problem with Labour.  Rather than trying to change the debate, or set the debate, they just follow this Tory narrative, which is, ‘let’s not talk about race’” 

Andrews lives in an area in Birmingham which is a safe Labour seat.  But like many, he feels Black voters are being neglected.

“They take us for granted” he said. “It’s pretty obvious that Keir Starmer doesn’t care about black people.  Look at how they deal with Diane Abbott. They’ve shown their cards really internally and externally, policy wise.”

The treatment of Diane Abbott, alluded to by Professor Andrews, resonates deeply with the Black community. A poll conducted by The Voice in October last year, suggested that 80% of black voters could switch how they vote if Abbott is prevented from standing for Labour.

Anger

Many familiar with the report’s findings remain angry at what they see as a deliberate purge by the party of progressive candidates.

Maurice McLeod, a popular Labour councilor in Battersea Park ward, Wandsworth, south London, was blocked from standing as an MP in Camberwell and Peckham, a seat with a large Black population in 2022.

McLeod fears that Labour’s lack of action on race could cost them dearly at the ballot box and is already damaging the credibility of the party.

“Britain desperately needs a new Race Equality Act and so, despite my reservations, when Labour announced that they would be working on one, I was optimistic. Since then, we have seen the general fight against racism apparently fall down Labour’s list of priorities.”

The Labour councillor says that  the lack of movement regarding the Race Equality Act after four years, would inevitably mean that “any race equality work that is now produced is likely to be rushed, or lacking in the needed vision”.

“What is more likely is that we will get a general wish list of aims and nothing concrete. This is a terrible missed opportunity for the party.

“While individual Labour politicians might being doing some good work, the issue of race equality does not seem like one the national party is interested in engaging with.”

One Black Labour MP, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Voice that the issue of race equality seemed to be a much lower priority for a party now than when the pledge was made to create a Race Equality Act in 2020.

‘Transformative change’

“I don’t have much expectation that we’ll be getting much from this administration in waiting” the MP said.  “What’s required for race relations in this country is transformative change which just isn’t on the agenda for Starmer. We are one of the most unequal societies in the world”.

The MP added that while a new Race Equality was really needed “we need far more than equality legislation. What would really help Black people, who disproportionately work in the public sector, rely on the public sector, and who worse health outcomes and live in poorer housing- and all the rest- would be a wealth tax. 

“When all the boats rise, though fiscal policy, social policy, investing in the NHS and social housing, investing in mental health services, paying civil service workers more, people in low paid cleaning jobs, and also enhancing trade union rights – these are areas which disproportionately impact Black people if we want real change.”

Other Labour activists The Voice spoke to say it is crucial that the party upholds its promise to deliver a Race Equality Act and that delays in doing so may undermine the confidence of loyal Black voters.

However one leading member of the party’s Race Equality Act working group, immigration lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie remains cautiously optimistic.

“The group’s work was near completion but we’ve not met in a while, or heard the final outcome” she told The Voice. 

“The working group brought together experts from across law, education, business, the economy, criminal justice and health, to examine the need for legislation to combat inequalities across these themes. 

Bold

“This was a bold and important step by Labour. It’s important politicians of all parties take these issues seriously, as good legislation is one way of addressing some of society’s inequalities.”

The Voice approached the Labour Party for a comment in response to criticisms about the lack of detail about its proposed Race Equality Act and the fact that it did not appear to be a key part of its forthcoming election manifesto.

A spokesperson said: “At present, we don’t yet have anything new to say.”

This remained the case at the time of going to press.

An extended version of this report appears in the February print edition of The Voice.