UK race report represents a 'PR exercise' by Boris Johnson, argues union chief
31 March 2021, 15:41 | Updated: 31 March 2021, 16:09
GMB Union National Secretary talks to LBC about race report
The UK landmark race report represents a "PR exercise" by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the GMB Union National Secretary has told LBC.
Rehana Azam made the remark after the report found that Britain is a model to other countries for diversity because of successes in areas like education and a shrinking ethnicity pay gap.
The the 264-page report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities found overt racism persists in the country but it's foreword by chair Dr Tony Sewell CBE states that Britain is no longer a place "where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities".
The report also states: "We found that most of the disparities we examined, which some attribute to racial discrimination, often do not have their origins in racism."
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Speaking of the report, Ms Azam told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty: "If we're not going to accept the lived experiences, well we will just have to speak a lot louder.
"[This is] because Boris Johnson is...trying to create this sort of PR exercise of what Britain is all about."
She accused the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report of "undermining" and "dismissing" the "lived experiences" of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
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Ms Azam also said: "If we really want to move forward, the Prime Minister needs to own what's happening in Britain right now.
"[He needs to] understand the lived experiences, acknowledge them and address them."
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