Support for the praiseworthy conclusions of the Sewell Report is needed
The baseless abuse from the Left was predictable - but the silence
from the Government on its own race review is disappointing
More than a week has passed since the committee on race in Britain
commissioned by Boris Johnson reported its findings and the silence from the
Government is deafening. Encouragingly, the report found the UK’s record to
be praiseworthy while acknowledging that much still needed to be done to
improve the life chances of ethnic minorities and of some white working class
people as well.
The reaction from those who make their living from fomenting divisions in
society was predictable. They have spent the past week seeking to denigrate
the report’s findings and the committee members, notably its chairman Dr
Tony Sewell. Bizarrely, he has been likened to a member of the Ku Klux Klan
or a Nazi.
When opponents stoop to outlandish slurs you know they have no real case
to make. Why are they so desperate to discredit this report rather than see it
as an opportunity to build on the progress that has already been made?
Dr Sewell, interviewed by Liam Halligan in the Telegraph, says he has a fairly
thick skin and is resistant to such abuse. Moreover, as he stresses, the
report does not deny that racism exists but rather suggests the disparities
people face, whether in education or employment or health care, have
myriad causes, not just one.
Most objectively minded people would regard this as a perfectly reasonable
approach that does not attempt to brush aside the issue but offers some
practical solutions based on the data. The Government has yet to respond
formally to this report and Dr Sewell says that privately he is encouraged by
“positive soundings”. But he deserves those to be heard publicly, too.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/...report-needed/