Theresa May’s racial disparity audit which details levels of inequality in the UK has been dismissed as “vacuous guff” by the Labour party. A new government Ethnicity Facts and Figures website published on Tuesday highlighted how people of different races are treated in areas including health, education, employment and the criminal justice system. However the findings that show that majority people in England feel British irrespective of ethnicity, the highest being Asians among the BAME community.
But the Labour party said what really mattered was tackling inequalities not just listing them.
Launching the new Ethnicity Facts and Figures website on Tuesday, Theresa May hosted a discussion round the Cabinet Table involving key stakeholders at Downing Street. She told them the audit will become an “essential resource in the battle to defeat ethnic injustice” which must be confronted at all levels of society – from central Government to local communities.
The new website – a first of its kind in terms of scale, scope and transparency - contains thousands of statistics covering more than 130 topics in areas including health, education, employment and the criminal justice system.
Dawn Butler, the Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, said the Prime Minister had “done nothing but exacerbate the problems” of inequality during her time in government.”
In a letter to The Times a number of prominent BAME activists - including former deputy mayor of London Munira Mirza - hit back at the government’s “crude and tendentious” approach to the issue, saying the policies could “harm the very communities they aspire to help”.
But communities secretary Sajid Javid denied the claims, saying he believed the audit would have “quite the opposite impact”.
He told Radio 4′s Today programme: “I think there will be people out there today taking note of this, whether they are from black, minority ethnic backgrounds or not, and thinking this is exactly the kind of thing they want their government to do.
“We are a government that said its going to work for everyone, a country that works for everyone and that means, where there are injustices, that we are doing everything we can to tackle and reveal them.”
Key findings include employment rates that are higher for white people than for ethnic minorities across the country, with a larger gap in the North than in the South (13.6% compared to 9%). Education attainment data shows there are disparities in primary school which increase in secondary school, with Chinese and Asian pupils tending to perform well and white and Black pupils doing less well, particularly those eligible for Free School Meals. It also revealed that ethnic minorities are under-represented at senior levels across the public sector, white teenagers are far more likely to smoke than their minority ethnic counterparts, Roma children are falling well behind their peers at school and black men face the highest likelihood of being found guilty in court.
The figures come alongside new research that suggests minority ethnic women are being hardest hit by austerity. The report by the Runnymede Trust and Women’s Budget Group claims black and Asian households have faced the biggest drop in living standards, of 19.2% and 20.1% respectively. That amounts to a real-terms average annual loss of £8,407 and £11,678.
The website will be a permanent resource, with new datasets being added over time. A specialist unit, run from the Cabinet Office under the First Secretary of State Damian Green, will consider and co-ordinate the Government’s work.
The Prime Minister said, “People who have lived with discrimination don’t need a government audit to make them aware of the scale of the challenge.
“But this audit means that for society as a whole – for government, for our public services – there is nowhere to hide. These issues are now out in the open. And the message is very simple: if these disparities cannot be explained then they must be changed.
“Britain has come a long way in my lifetime in spreading equality and opportunity. But the data we are publishing today will provide the definitive evidence of how far we must still go in order to truly build a country that works for everyone.”
The Prime Minister ordered the audit shortly after taking office, as part of the agenda she set out in her first speech on the steps of Downing Street to tackle injustices in society. The delay in publishing the report raised questions about her intentions within the community.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: "This audit shows that prejudice and bias based on the colour of someone’s skin continues to blight people’s life chances, and this is utterly unacceptable in 21st century Britain. It is not right that people in the UK find themselves far less likely to have a job or own their home based on nothing more than their ethnicity - it is an unfairness that should have ended long ago.
"This audit lays out the challenges we face as a society and that will only be overcome if we all work together across party lines.
“Theresa May’s decision to shine a light on this issue means she can't now shy away from tackling the causes of this inequality – including cuts to public services and a shrinking state. Tackling inequality will need the devotion of all her ministers.
"Where ministers act, they will in turn have our support. Where they hesitate, we will push, cajole and confront them until they do the right thing."
Lord Gadhia said, “Sunshine is often the best disinfectant. By shedding light on racial disparities, Theresa May’s Government is bringing transparency to areas where more work must be done to tackle persisent inequality and prejudice. I would encourage the Government to come forward with a pro-active agenda to tackle these issues.
“At the same time, we should also be proud of the fact that certain minority groups, notably the British Indian community, have integrated well and are making an outsized contribution to Britain in many different fields.
“The data released by the Government shows that British Indians come top in earnings and education. An analysis of household income shows 35% of Indians earning £1000 or more per week week, versus an average of 24% in this income bracket across the population. Similarly, data on average hourly wages shows British Indians earning 15% above the national average and 38% above the lowest group - British Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.
“On education indicators, British Indian children are consistently the top performing group for academic attainment with 14% of Indians achieving 3 A grades or better at A Levels.
“British Indians provide a role model for how a minority community can integrate successfully into British society and make a positive contribution to this country.”
