SHADOW WOMEN and Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds today launched the Labour Party’s plans for a Race Equality Act at a meeting of party members following anger and confusion over an earlier launch this week in which Black party members and activists said they were barred from attending.
The launch of the party’s proposals took place today via Zoom in front of an audience of invited party members and Labour activists. Dodds and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the party’s race relations adviser spoke about the plans and ex-Labour adviser Dorothea Hodge chaired the event.
Concerns
The party was strongly criticised this week by Black members of the party when a planned launch of the proposals at north London’s Bernie Grant after the party had originally planned to release its plans yesterday afternoon in north London, but cancelled the event at short notice citing undisclosed security concerns. A hastily organised evening launch did eventually place in south London.
However, Black MPs, community media organisations and leading campaign groups were not invited, leading to accusations from party members we spoke to that the party intentionally excluded them in a bid to censor opportunities to grill party leaders over the proposals which were announced as far back as 2020.
The Voice was not able to independently verify whether individuals who had been barred from attending Monday’s launch were invited to this afternoon’s event.
At the start of the launch, Hodge addressed the anger and confusion that surrounded the events earlier this week.
She told the virtual audience: “I’m really sorry that Monday’s event didn’t go as planned because of the security challenge we had on the day.
“But I’m delighted that at least we could get together now and have this discussion and hope to continue it in the weeks to come so that if Labour is given that chance to serve, we can really speedily be enacting those changes that are desperately needed to prevent structural racial inequality.”
Dodds re-affirmed the party’s commitment to require public services such as the NHS, police, schools, and councils to gather statistics on ethnicity in areas such as personnel and pay, aligning with Labour’s broader anti-racism initiatives.
She outlined the Act’s provisions to tackle “dual discrimination,” enabling individuals to file single claims for multiple instances of discrimination, for example, where someone has experienced both racism and sexism. The aim is to ease tribunals’ backlog and support marginalised communities.
Bullying
The shadow women and equalities secretary also said the Act would establish a Windrush commissioner to oversee the compensation scheme, potentially relocating it away from the Home Office due to delays and growing criticism of how it has operated so far.
During the launch, she was asked how the Act would ensure racial equality within the NHS workforce given growing evidence of bullying and harassment of Black and minority ethnic staff.
However, there was little discussion about issues such as reducing racial disparities in stop and search, a significant concern of Black Britons in recent years or the calls by some campaigners to strengthen the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
When asked by The Voice how the proposals were going to be legally enforced Dodds said: “First of all, around data collection, we will be putting in place legal requirements from the Equality Act. That’s one of the legislative aspects we’re setting out and we think that is really important.
“But on top of that, clearly, the big question is what the government actually does with that information, how we act on the basis of it, ensuring that there’s accountability.”
She continued: “We believe we’ve got the right governmental machinery to drive this. Labour has a shadow Secretary of State for women and equalities so if we’re in government these issues will have a voice at the cabinet table to really make sure every department is doing this properly, and that we’re then acting based on that data.
“What I’d like to see Labour do is make sure they listen to the community, because if you’re not listening, you do not know what it is they’re asking for”
Baroness Doreen Lawrence
“Also, there was a Race Disparities Unit, which was a really good initiative, but it hasn’t been sustained. So we need to make sure that it is sustained and that we’re delivering on tackling discrimination.”
Labour’s plans for a new Race Equality Act were launched by party leader Sir Keir Starmer back in 2020. However, the party has faced faces scrutiny over delays in announcing it prompting concerns over Starmer’s and the party’s commitment to tackling racism.
Speaking about the challenges of effectively delivering the proposals, Baroness Lawrence said: “What I’d like to see Labour do is make sure they listen to the community, because if you’re not listening, you do not know what it is they’re asking for.
“Listening is a big thing that needs to happen so that people don’t feel sidestepped. Somebody like me will always be saying, ‘this is what I think you need to do, this is who I feel you need to contact’ because until you understand what the community’s concerns are you’re not going to be able to deliver what it is you’re saying you’re going to deliver. That communication that needs to happen.”
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“Equality” is not the word most Voice Newspaper readers would use to describe the horrendous way Labour’s Sir Kier Starmer, and the Women & Equality Shadow Minister, the Rt Hon Annelise Dodds MP, unveiled on zoom to the public, their Race Equality Act: which was planned to be unveiled at the Gernie Grant centre: but anxiousness from Labour’s Shadow Equalities Minister, of publicly meeting London’s African-heritage Labour’s men and women, caused the cancellation of the public event.
“Security concerns” were used as the excuse for the cancelled public unveiling of Labour’s Race Equality Act.
I am sure the “security concerns” centred on the fear of Sir Kier Starmer’s, and Labour’s Chairwoman, having to physically meet, and respond to questions from non-compliant, and independent thinking, African-heritage men, and women; and Voice Newspaper Reporters: who were also shockingly excluded.
Fear and loathing of His Majesty’s African-skinned Subjects, would be an accurate label to describe Labour, along with Ms Dodds, an Aberdonian, general attitude towards ethnic African-heritage people; rather than “equality,” or an authentic concern, or policies to assist London’s African-heritage Labour supporting people.
Sir Kier Starmer would never tolerate such disrespectful, shoddy, shambolic, and unequal public reception, which London’s African-heritage Labour supporters were forced to endure, being publicly rolled out to Labour’s middle-class Feminists lobby, Stonewall’s LGBTQIA+ lobby, or ethnic Caucasian-Jewish lobby.
In “equally” quota Sir Kier Starmer’s Labour Party, London’s African-skinned men, women, and youth, remain a mostly side-lined, and a politically neglected after though; only remembered with empty “anti-racists” political promises, when general elections are near.
The former African-skinned Labour adviser Ms Dorothea Hodge, chairwoman of Labour’s Race Equality Act event, incredulously said.
“We believe we’ve got the right governmental machinery to drive this.
Labour has a shadow Secretary of State for women and equalities (Ms Dodds) so if we’re in government these issues will have a voice at the cabinet table to really make sure every department is doing this properly, and that we’re then acting based on that data.”
With complaint African-skinned Labour women, as Ms Dorothea Hodge, being given a leading Labour profile.
London’s African, and African-Caribbean Labour supporters can look forward to more unequal, and disrespectful treatment from the “Equalities” Shadow Minister, the Rt Hon Annelise Dodds MP, supported by Sir Kier Starmer, Labour’s leader.