Maajid Nawaz: UK minority groups are worst affected by lockdown - there needs to be easing

17 May 2020, 09:21

Maajid Nawaz: Mass lockdown affects minorities disproportionately

As party politics has begun to play a part in how the public feel about lockdown, minority communities suffer more as a result.

Maajid Nawaz was speaking after learning that "almost double of blacks and South Asians have been fined during lockdown" than white people in the UK insisted that this disparity is because minority communities in the UK are affected more by lockdown than white people, majorly making up the middle classes in the country.

"If you are in the professional bracket then you've got to accept that you're not as affected by lockdown" he argued. Maajid backed this up by pointing out how many are working from home during lockdown and how they are having 80% of their wage paid by the government through furlough.

He went on to say that the privilege of people on furlough "allows you to rail against those who are skeptical of those who don't see the need for a national lockdown to continue." Maajid put forward the theory that those who are against the continuation of lockdown are minorities, who have been working during lockdown as cleaners, bus drivers and other related jobs.

Maajid stated that these people in the minority groups are "disproportionately dying meanwhile their children are on the street at risk of gangs" as they don't have the luxury of staying home during lockdown. He saw lockdown as proof of "disparities by class and poverty and therefore, by correlation, race."

Maajid suggested that minorities are missing out on representation during the lockdown debate because "too many activists are indulging in motivated reasoning."

"They're taking their position based off who they oppose" he argued. The point Maajid was suggesting was that while party politics takes hold in the coronavirus debate, minorities who are affected disproportionately by lockdown are impacted by the work of the people that usually try protect their interests.

Maajid stated that "people aren't motivated by facts in this case" and while lockdown being lifted would benefit minorities greatly, the privileged are campaigning to keep lockdown in place longer, which has a lasting effect on vulnerable people.

Calling "for a scalpel based approach with tracing and hotspot lockdown", Maajid maintained that once it is viable, the government needs to ease lockdown where possible as soon as it can so the lives of minority communities can continue.

Listen & subscribe: Global Player | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify