Lawrence mum warns on Equality Bill

Diigo

The mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence has claimed the Government is treating Britain's minority community as an afterthought. Doreen Lawrence spoke as plans to abolish race watchdog the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) moved a step closer, with the final reading of the Equality Bill in the Commons.

"For too long this section of our community appears to be an afterthought to those in power," she said.

"Britain is in a position to make a real difference at home and in Europe with the stand it has made with the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000. The Government should be looking forward and not backwards.

"With the Equality Bill going through the Commons, attention needs to be paid to the effect this Bill could have in this country, especially within the black and minority ethnic community."

Campaigners claim the proposed Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR) is a poorer deal than the CRE.

The CEHR is set to replace the CRE, the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the Disability Rights Commission and will also have responsibility for tackling discrimination in areas of age, religion and sexual orientation.

Lord Ouseley, a Labour peer and a former head of the CRE, argues that there should be a race committee at the CEHR, saying: "The black and minority ethnic communities have to be actively and visibly represented in the work of the new Commission and the structures must include a race committee as well as reflect the importance of London as the most culturally diverse capital city in the world."

London mayor Ken Livingstone said the CEHR did not guarantee black and ethnic minority representation and could lead to a squeeze on funding for race relations work.

Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old A-level student, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked race-hate attack by a gang of five white youths in April 1993. No-one has been convicted of the killing.

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