Today's blog post is written by our public affairs intern Ashley Burton-Lynch

In a session on the forthcoming business of the House of Commons, Labour MP Chuka Umunna urged the government to hold a debate on its proposed changes to stop and search. He added that it would be particularly important to focus on the equality implications of their proposals to reduce the amount of information police are required to record under stop and search.

Umunna, who is Private Parliamentary Secretary (PPS) to Ed Miliband, made it clear there is a need for such a debate, voicing his opinion that the changes “will make it impossible to check properly whether their use is proportionate and non-discriminatory”. The Streatham MP went on to mention the fact that campaign groups such as StopWatch have questioned the intended benefits of these proposed changes – these include the claim from the Policing Minister Nick Herbert MP that 450,000 hours of police time would be saved.

George Young, the Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, responded that it was important a “consensus” is reached on what the impact of the changes will be and suggested that a meeting between the Home Office and StopWatch was a potential “way forward”.

Today's blog post is written by our public affairs intern Ashley Burton-Lynch

Lord Parekh has criticised the government for failing to consider the disproportionately negative impact the spending cuts will have on ethnic minorities. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on the impact of the cuts, he voiced his concern that the spending cuts will result in ethnic minorities suffering the most from job losses in local government and the NHS, as well as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) third sector organisations feeling the greatest strain from grant cuts.

The Labour peer lambasted the Home Secretary for failing to carry out an equality audit in relation to the impact of the cuts on ethnic minorities despite her admission that “the cuts will affect women, (and) ethnic minorities…disproportionately”.

Drawing on work undertaken by professors from Oxford University and Bristol, Lord Parekh highlighted the fact that as ethnic minorities are not only disproportionately represented in the public sector but also less likely to be in “senior positions”, they are the most vulnerable from resultant job losses. In voicing the estimation that job losses in local government will number around 100,000, Lord Parekh made the case that ethnic minorities stand to be highly affected.

Labour peer Lord McKenzie pressed the government to respond to Runnymede’s argument that black and minority ethnic people will be significantly affected by cuts to savings policies.

Runnymede’s research was quoted in the remaining House of Lords stages of the Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill. This Bill effectively scraps both the Child Trust Fund and Saving Gateway schemes, both of which enable those on low incomes to build savings. Runnymede submitted a response to the bill at an earlier stage of its passage through parliament.

Today's blog post is written by our public affairs intern Ashley Burton-Lynch

Labour peer Lord Falconer has slammed government plans to change constituency boundaries due to the fact this will exclude the 3.5 million people currently not on the electoral register because of out of date data. He added that many of those excluded from the register would be Black and minority ethnic (BME) people. Lord Falconer made the comments during the House of Lords’ second reading of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, where the government has proposed that constituencies across the UK should be of an equal population size and be reduced by 50 seats.  

Lord Falconer went on to argue that the changes would create constituencies which “carve(d) up communities” and did not reflect local needs. This, according to Lord Falconer, was supported by the Constitution Committee which stated in its report on the Bill that holding a public consultation on the issue would have highlighted whether the electorate actually thought equalisation of constituencies should be prioritised over other considerations.

Labour peer Baroness Healy elaborated on these concerns by adding that “if these missing millions are ignored in the redrawing of boundaries, it will have a distorting effect on the electoral map and unforeseen social consequences whereby government bodies do not recognise the true nature of the communities they should be supporting” – for example concerning the allocation of funds per head.

Today's blog post is written by our public affairs intern Ashley Burton-Lynch

Labour MP David Lammy last week highlighted how the government’s proposed changes to housing benefit could negatively impact ethnic minorities. The comments came in an opposition day debate in the House of Commons on housing benefit, where the Labour party called on the government to review its plans to cut the housing benefit of those who have been on Job Seeker’s Allowance for over a year. Further details of the changes are available here.

During the debate, Lammy argued that it was “extraordinary” that an equality impact assessment had not yet been published on the reforms, adding that they have the potential to “greatly affect London’s ethnic minorities”.

Later in the debate, Lammy expanded upon his point, stating that ethnic minority families make up a significant proportion of those claiming housing benefit in London. He argued that in seeking to remove the “safety net” for the most income vulnerable people, the reforms would in effect forcefully “drive people from central London to outer London”.

MPs today discussed how the government’s new plans for higher education could impact on Black and minority ethnic (BME) students. In a Westminster Hall debate – which directly followed the government’s response to the Browne review into university funding – a number of Labour MPs expressed concern that proposed fee increases of up to £9000 would deter BME students from attending university. In addition, some argued that if Russell Group universities decide to charge higher fees than other institutions, BME pupils may seek to attend cheaper and less prestigious universities.

The former higher education minister David Lammy MP – who arranged the debate on widening participation – expressed particular concern regarding the current lack of black students in the UK’s most prestigious universities, stating that there are more Black students at London Metropolitan University than all other Russell Group universities put together. Lammy also highlighted the shocking statistic that only one Black Caribbean student was admitted to Oxford last year. Responding to Lammy, the further education minister John Hayes MP acknowledged that this is “a cause for concern”, adding that he thinks it should be an issue the government should look into further.

Lammy also called for universities to be given tough commitments on widening access, adding that they should receive penalties if they don’t meet this commitment – particularly in light of increasing fees. 

Paul Uppal and other Conservative MPs argued that the reasons certain groups do not attend university – or, indeed, the best universities – are more than just financial ones. In particular, John Hayes highlighted improving educational attainment levels and careers advice at a school level as ways which would result in wider participation in higher education.

Runnymede will shortly be published a report on widening participation in higher education, which will be available to download for free on our website.

Labour MP Kate Green drew attention to Runnymede research into savings in a parliamentary debate last week. Speaking in a debate on the Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill – which repeals the Savings Gateway Accounts Act 2009 -Green called the government’s equality impact assessment of the bill “thin in the extreme”, adding that Runnymede research shows that “at least 60% of Asian and black British families have no savings at all”. She went on to state that “the fact that that is twice the number of white households in the same position should concern us greatly”.

Runnymede’s financial inclusion research team has previously highlighted the potential impact of scrapping the savings gateway and the child trust fund – both policies which encourage saving – on BME groups. Given the fact that BME people are less likely to save, they are particularly in need of policies which encourage and improve saving. Runnymede is currently preparing evidence for the House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the issue which will shortly be available on our website.

Phil Woolas MP was criticised for his role in the last government's immigration policy at a fringe event yesterday. The event – hosted by the GMB trade union – saw the former immigration minister criticised by Simon Woolley of Operation Black Vote, as well as many members of the audience, for “pandering” to anti-immigration sentiment. Woolley also argued that the rise of the far-right in the UK was largely due to “weak politicians”, in particular labelling Gordon Brown's use of the phrase “British jobs for British workers” before the election as “giving a green light to the bigots”.

Woolas opened the event by arguing that Labour “has not liked to debate immigration”, adding that it is important for the left to separate the issues of race and immigration going forward. He also stated that the most effective way to “control” immigration is to address conditions in origin countries, highlighting that migration from Ireland and Spain to the UK reduced after these countries' economic situation improved.

Woolley countered Woolas' claim that the Labour does not talk about immigration, stating “we don't stop talking about it”. He also stressed that migrants are the “backbone” of services like the NHS. Paul Kenny - General Secretary of the GMB - reiterated this claim, stating that “we have an absolute need for immigration in the UK”. He also argued in favour of a one off amnesty for illegal migrants.

Former Labour Minister Alun Michael MP, Runnymede and the NCVO debated the equality implications of “the big society” at a conference fringe event on Tuesday. Hosted by Voice4Change, concerns raised regarding the concept focused on how organisations will be held to account and also on how to ensure a diverse range of people participate.

Sarah Isal, Deputy Director of Runnymede, argued that whilst “the big society” could lead to decentralised services more effectively tailored to the needs of specific ethnic groups, it is important to ensure that those providing services are held to account, particularly in relation to race equality. Isal also highlighted the need to include migrants and refugees in “big society” initiatives.

Criticising the government's understanding of the “big society”, Alun Michael MP argued that the concept is a cynical one designed to aid the shrinking of the state. He did however argue in favour of a stronger voluntary sector, highlighting the work of David Miliband in encouraging this through his Movement for Change programme during his leadership campaign which trained 1000 new community organisers. Michael added that volunteering is the “ultimate act of citizenship” and argued that the Labour party needs to do more to encourage community empowerment.

Labour MP John Mann has called for a “methodical” targeting of resources to fight the far right at every electoral level. Speaking at a fringe event at Labour party conference, Mann said that such targeting of resources is especially needed in by-elections due to lower voter turn out and greater risk of success of the far right in these situations.

Mann also highlighted that across Europe football is increasingly becoming a vehicle for anti-Semitism and islamophobia, particularly among football fans in Poland. Arguing that this is not being challenged in many countries, Mann suggested that the UK should do more to respond to these developments across the continent.

Also speaking at the event, Margaret Hodge MP outlined her fight against the BNP in her Barking constituency, stating that it was the “most important battle she has ever fought”. She argued that it is important to embark on a “long campaign” when countering the far right, adding that she worked for four years to “re-connect” with communities in her constituency.

The left needs a new narrative on immigration if it is to regain power across Europe according to Labour MEP Claude Moraes. Speaking at a fringe event entitled “European Social Democracy: the path back to power”, Moraes stressed that the left should argue the benefits of free movement in the EU and also highlighted that the rise of the far-right across the continent are pushing the centre right to “more extreme places”.

Focusing on her Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, newly elected Labour MP Rushanara Ali argued that local hostility is largely directed to new migrants from Eastern Europe rather than the settled Bangladeshi community. She added that whilst it is important not to pander to prejudice, root causes need to be taken into account.

Responding to a question from Runnymede on whether the lack of recent success of the left in Europe could be explained by these parties pandering to the right, Moraes argued that the left has been uncomfortable discussing immigration in the post-war period. Rushanara Ali added that “it is clear the public want a managed migration policy”, stating that it needs to be taken into account that the white working class feel betrayed and that a nuanced message on immigration needs to be developed.  

Labour frontbencher Sadiq Khan yesterday hinted that he believed that the party should support the coalition if they decide to reduce 28 days terror detention to 14. Speaking at a Fabian Society fringe event on “what should we ditch from New Labour”, Khan argued that Labour should look closely at the evidence when deciding their position on the issue rather than opposing it just for party political reasons.

Khan – who opposed 90 days terror detention when proposed by the last Labour government – also argued that long term detention without charge could have a negative impact on community relations, adding that fighting terrorism needs to “be about working with communities”.

Responding to Khan, shadow universities minister David Lammy called 90 days terror detention a “stain on the Labour government” but added that it is easier for the Conservatives to focus on civil liberties whilst in power due to the public’s perception of the party as being more reliable on criminal justice issues. Deborah Mattinson of BritainThinks reiterated this concern, stating that Labour lost the last election as it was seen as being “soft on crime”.  

Runnymede will be attending all three party conferences this year, and members of the team will be blogging throughout to keep you updated on all the developments.

Keep an eye on The Runnymede Westminster Monitor over the following dates:

• Lib Dem conference (Liverpool): 18th - 22nd September
• Labour conference (Manchester): 26th - 30th September
• Conservative conference (Birmingham): 3rd - 6th October

If you're attending conference this year, be sure to attend Voice4Change's fringe events on equality, fairness and the big society - Runnymede will be speaking at this event across all three conferences. The event will take place on the following days:

New MP Rushanara Ali and Labour front bencher David Lammy both raised the issues of ethnic minority employment and skills in the Commons this week.

Rushanara Ali, the recently elected Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow highlighted Bangladeshi and Somali unemployment in her constituency this week’s opposition day debate on jobs and the unemployed arguing that they face both social class barriers and ethnic penalties. Highlighting that the unemployment rate in her constituency is 11% - significantly higher than the national average – she argued that 8,500 young people in London stayed off benefits due to interventions by the previous government.

She also welcomed the government’s plans to introduce 50,000 apprenticeships, but argued that they should introduce them sooner than the planned implementation date of next spring.

In addition, the former higher education minister David Lammy asked a question regarding the achievement gap between white and ethnic minority university students last week. The skills secretary David Willetts responded by arguing that the coalition government is committed to social mobility and added that “the coalition agreement is clear that future activity in these areas needs to be judged against the findings from Lord Browne's independent review of higher education funding and student finance”.

Labour MP Diane Abbott made history today by becoming the first black person to contest for the position of Labour leadership after making it onto the ballot paper in the nick of time. After securing the required 33 nominations to formally enter the race, Abbott will be up against the Miliband brothers, Andy Burnham and Ed Balls.

In a dramatic day in Westminster, Abbott – who started the day on 11 nominations – convinced a range of high profile frontbenchers and backbench leftwingers to back her at the last minute, with some even signing their nominations in today’s Prime Minister’s question time.

Speaking in the Second Reading debate of the Academies Bill in the House of Lords yesterday, long-term race campaigner Baroness Howells criticised the bill for not taking into account community cohesion, adding that it could trigger a “road to segregation” for black pupils.

The bill – launched in the Queen’s Speech last month - will enable more schools to become academies, primarily by giving the Secretary of State the power to issue an Academy Order requiring the local authority to cease to maintain the school.

In her speech, Labour Peer Howells outlined her concerns surround the experience of black children in the current UK education system, and highlighted the historical difficulties they have faced in UK schools since the 1960s. In particular she argued that “there is a need to consider the deep-seated cultural and social differences that characterise black children in our attempt to educate, counsel and assist them in the UK system”.

Moving onto the Academies Bill in particular, Howells questioned whether academies can achieve community cohesion standards if they are able to opt out of local authority control and suggested that such a move will “separate communities”. She concluded that she is “sure that the black community fears that the Bill”, adding that it” would set us on the road to segregation.

You can read the full debate of the Second Reading of the Academies Bill here.

Watch senior politicians debate race equality in a 12-minute video of our Norfolk United event.

At the "Question Time"- style discussion a cross-party group of politicians, including Charles Clarke MP and Norman Lamb MP, went head to head on the state of race equality in Norfolk.

Other panelists included Conservative councillor Antony Little, Green Party councillor Samir Jeraj, community activist Gita Prasad, and panel chair and BBC reporter Clive Lewis.

The debate, held on in February 2010 and organised by Runnymede in association with the Norwich and Norfolk Race Equality Council, was the first in a series of regional question time events debating race equality in the UK.

Runnymede would also like to thank CMedia for putting the video together.

Just a quick post to draw attention to the Operation Black Vote rally which took place in Westminster last night. The event – called “Black Britain Decides” –  was attended by around 2500 BME voters and focused on a number of issues including representation and the DNA database.

In what looks to be the largest political rally of the campaign, high-profile representatives of all the major parties took part including Harriet Harman, George Osborne and Vince Cable. OBV have frequently pointed out that marginal seats across the country could easily be swung by ethnic minority votes, including Finchley and Golders Green, Solihull, Battersea, Crawley, Harlow, Bradford West, Ealing North, Birmingham Yardley and Hove.

A write up on the event is available on the Guardian and I’m sure further info will be available on the OBV blog later in the day.

Gordon Brown has today written a post for the Operation Black Vote blog on Labour’s policies for BME communities.

In the post, Brown defends Labour’s record on fighting racial prejudice, particularly highlighting the party’s introduction of a duty for all public bodies to tackle racial discrimination, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, this year’s Equality Act and the establishment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

On the rise of the far-right, Brown states that Labour is working closely with faith communities, trade unions and community organisers to defeat the BNP.

Today David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and a number of parliamentary candidates signed up to an asylum election pledge.

Coordinated by Liberty, the Refugee Council and the Scottish Refugee Council ahead of tonight’s second prime ministerial debate, the leaders have agreed to “never play fast and loose with the proud tradition of a nation that must always offer succour to those in genuine fear of persecution”.

In addition to the party leaders, scores of parliamentary candidates up and down the country have signed the pledge which will be open until May 6th. Elfyn Llwyd, parliamentary group leader of Plaid Cymru, and Alex Salmond, leader of SNP, have also signed the pledge.

Those of you who read my posts last week on the party manifestos will have noticed that aside from immigration and civil liberties they included few direct policies on race equality. The notable exception to this rule was of course the Lib Dems who released their own race equality mini-manifesto.

Readers may therefore find it useful to read a collection of papers written for Runnymede by the three main parties specifically on race equality. Released earlier this year, the papers were written by Communities and Local Government Secretary John Denham MP (Labour), Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve MP (Conservative) and Liberal Democrat Shadow Equalities Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone MP.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the past few days, you will have noticed that the UK’s first ever election leadership debate took place last night. The first of three such debates over the next two weeks, Brown, Cameron and Clegg went head to head on home affairs issues including immigration, crime, education and the NHS.

Of direct interest to race equality, the three leaders locked horns on the contentious issue of immigration. Defending the government’s record, Brown stated that "we are a tolerant, we are a diverse country, but the controls on migration that I'm introducing - and I will go further - are the right controls, the right policy for Britain."

Cameron outlined his vision for an immigration cap, stating that: "we need to have not just a points system, but also a limit on migration when people are coming from outside the European Union for economic reasons."

Clegg highlighted the need for a regional approach to immigration, saying that under such a system “you only make sure the immigrants who come go to those regions where they can be supported."

All three of the main parties have now released their manifestos, so over the next few blog posts I’ll highlight the key race equality issues included in all. First up is Labour, whose manifesto was launched on Monday.

Focusing on the themes of the economy, public services and democratic reform the Labour manifesto does not directly focus on issues regarding race equality and community cohesion. It does however outline measures on immigration, terrorism and criminal justice, and defends the government’s record on equality.

The issue of immigration was raised today in the final Prime Minister’s Question Time before the general election – highlighting that the topic is likely to be political football throughout the coming campaign.

Tory shadow immigration minister Damian Green MP questioned Gordon Brown on his previous claim that Labour aims to provide “British jobs for British workers”, to which Brown responded that net migration has fallen under Labour. He also criticised the Conservatives’ proposals for a quota system for immigration, adding that a points-based system will be more effective.

In light of the attention likely to be given to immigration throughout the election campaign, it is worth pointing out recent research published by Runnymede which suggests that it is not the amount of new migrants in an area that causes tension between different communities, but rather a failure to manage integration properly.

And they're off! Gordon Brown has confirmed this morning that the election will take place on 6 May 2010. Flanked by his cabinet, Brown made the announcement outside Downing Street where he emphasised his "ordinary background", adding that he will fight hard for families on modest incomes.

Cameron launched the Conservative campaign outside the Houses of Parliament where he argued that the Tories will be fighting for "the great ignored... the young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight".

Full coverage of today's announcement is available on the BBC, and to keep an eye on the yo yo-ing opinion polls check out the UK Polling Report site.

In the meantime, for coverage of announcements impacting on race equality and the BME community during the election campaign don't forget to keep checking back to this blog!

This week Anne Begg MP introduced a parliamentary debate on the Speaker’s Conference on parliamentary representation. Some of you may remember that the Speaker’s Conference recommended in its January report that more must be done to encourage local political activism and to prevent discrimination against potential parliamentary candidates who do not fit the traditional mould.

In this week’s debate, Begg – who is also Chair of the Equalities All Party Parliamentary Group – argued that diversity in parliament is “fundamental to our democracy” and a “matter of justice”.

The Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee has today criticized the government’s controversial Prevent programme, stating that it has stigmatised and alienated those it is attempting to engage and that it has “tainted” many positive community cohesion projects. It also argues that the strategy sits poorly within a counter-terrorism strategy.

Launching 'Preventing Violent Extremism', a report of a recent select committee inquiry into the Prevent programme, CLG committee chair Dr Phyllis Starkey MP said, "We agree that a targeted strategy must address the contemporary al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist threat, but we do not believe a Government department charged with promoting cohesive communities should take a leading role in this counter-terrorism initiative”.

I will be publishing a post on Runnymede's thoughts on today's budget tomorrow morning. In the meantime, for those of you interested in the relationship between financial inclusion and ethnicity take a look at some of Runnymede's recent work on the topic, including our recent report on asset inequality. Readers may also be interested in our 2009 report on ethnicity and cash machines which found that BME people are more likely to live in areas where they have to pay fees to access their money.

Harriet Harman MP and the rest of the equalities ministerial team were up for oral questions in the House of Commons yesterday, and faced a barrage of questions on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Following from my earlier post on the EHRC, the equalities watchdog was under further scrutiny from MPs with questions focusing on its expenditure and why the government renewed Trevor Philips chairmanship without putting up the post for open competition. In response to the latter, Harman said that Phillips was retained as chair because she felt “continuity of leadership” was needed.

Also of interest, Lib Dem equalities spokesperson Lynne Featherstone MP echoed comments she made in her essay on the Liberal Democrats and Race Equality, published by Runnymede earlier this month, by saying that the EHRC should devote more time to using its powers to hold businesses and public bodies to account.

The EHRC received some praise however, with Keith Vaz MP welcoming its recent report highlighting the disproportionality of stop and search powers.