UK is 'one of the best countries in the world to be a black person,' says Tory MP

A Tory MP has defended the Government’s approach to encouraging racial equality, saying the UK is “one of the best countries in the world to be a black person”.

Women and Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch rejected suggestions that being black amounts to a “death sentence” in this country, saying Britons should not accept such statements.

She was responding to questions from Labour MP Rupa Huq on the Black Lives Matter protests which have swept London since the killing of African-American man George Floyd.

Ms Huq said: “Anyone in Westminster yesterday couldn’t have failed to have noticed the Black Lives Matter protest, inspired by Minneapolis, and the placard that sticks in my mind most is one that said ‘Being black should not be a death sentence’.

“She (Ms Badenoch) talked about having courage and being a black woman herself.

“She and I are both BAME parents, can we really look into our sons’ eyes and say that we acknowledged it? Surely we need action, it’s not good enough.”

Black Lives Matter protests in London continue - In pictures

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Ms Huq urged the Government to involve diverse communities in its coronavirus response, in a way that is not simply a “box-ticking exercise”.

Ms Badenoch replied: “I agree with her that we cannot be seen to do anything that looks like a box-ticking exercise.”

But, she continued: “We also should not just be accepting statements like ‘being black is a death sentence in this country’. It’s not true.

“It is true there are disparities, it is true that there are other factors that can make outcomes worse, let’s look at that.

“But let us not in this House use statements like ‘being black is a death sentence’, which young people out there hear, don’t understand the context and then continue to believe that they live in a society that is against them.

“When actually this is one of the best countries in the world to be a black person.”

Addressing the heightened coronavirus risks suffered by BAME communities, Labour MP Zarah Sultana then argued that Covid-19 does not discriminate but the “system in which it is spreading does”.

She added: “Higher rates of poverty, overcrowded housing, precarious work and jobs on the front line mean that if you’re black or Asian you’re more likely to catch the virus and to be hit worse if you do.

“Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan and we are owed more than confirmation that our communities are suffering – we’re owed justice.”

She pressed for the Government to develop a strategy covering all Whitehall departments to tackle underlying inequalities and “systemic injustice”.

Ms Badenoch defended the Government’s record before adding other groups, including based on age and gender, have been affected by the coronavirus and must be looked at.

She went on: “I’m not going to take any lessons from the honourable lady on race and what I should be doing on that. I think this Government has a record to be proud of.”

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