The Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Prime Minister

10 Downing Street

London

SW1A 2AA

‍

30 July 2026

‍

Dear Prime Minister, 

Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister.

You take office at a defining moment for our country. Alongside deep economic and social challenges, we are witnessing some of the highest levels of racist violence, hate crime and division in living memory. 

The riots that erupted in the summer of 2024 saw targeted attacks on asylum accommodation, including attempts to set fire to hotels with people still inside. Mosques and cemeteries were desecrated, and people of colour were harassed and intimidated in the streets.  We continue to see record levels of racially and religiously motivated attacks on individuals and places of worship against Jewish and Muslim communities, and just last month, we witnessed pogroms in Belfast targeting Black, Brown, Muslim and migrant families, homes and businesses.  

These are not isolated incidents. They reflect the consequences of years of growing inequality, underinvestment in communities and public services, and political and media narratives that have normalised racism, anti-migrant sentiment and Islamophobia, including the weaponisation of violence against women and girls to stigmatise entire communities rather than address the root causes of gender-based violence. Too many people now feel less safe and less confident in our shared future. Your government has an opportunity to set a new direction, and it is vital that it does so. 

As organisations working across racial justice, migrants’ rights, faith and wider civil society, we urge you to commit to developing and implementing a cross- governmental anti-racism strategy and delivery framework to advance racial justice across all policy areas. This must be co-produced from the outset  with civil society organisations and impacted communities. That engagement must be representative and inclusive, ensuring that women, young people and those most affected by racism are directly involved in shaping both priorities and delivery.

Successive governments have failed to deliver the sustained and coordinated action needed to address racism, which continues to shape people’s experiences and outcomes across education, employment, housing, healthcare, policing, the legal system and immigration. More broadly, this anti-racism strategy must be developed as part of a wider equalities and rights agenda that addresses widening economic inequalities and growing efforts to undermine the rights and protections on which an inclusive and democratic society depends. 

During your time as Mayor of Greater Manchester, you led on tackling racial discrimination and disadvantage at a city-region level, including by creating the Greater Manchester Race Equality Panel, evidence gathering and the development of race equality infrastructure. Now is an opportunity to scale that ambition nationally, while strengthening it through clear race equality targets, departmental delivery plans, budget alignment, public reporting and independent community scrutiny.

We would welcome an early meeting with you and relevant ministers to discuss how civil society organisations and impacted communities can work with the government to co-produce a national anti-racism strategy and delivery framework equal to the scale and severity of the challenge. 

Yours sincerely,

‍

Runnymede Trust, Dr Shabna Begum, CEO

Action for Race Equality, Jeremy Crook OBE, Chief Executive

African Rainbow Family, Aderonke Apata, Founder and CEO

Aid Box Community, Imogen McIntosh, CEO

Alliance for Police Accountability, Lee Jasper, Chair

Amnesty International UK, Ilyas Nagdee, Racial Justice Director

Anthony Walker Foundation, Chelsey Hulbert, Administrator

Anti Racist Cumbria, Janett Walker, CEO

Anti-Tribalism Movement, Bishara Mohamud, CEO

Asylum Matters, Louise Calvey, Executive Director

Aquaintz Consulting, Grace Mosuro, CEO

Association of Visitors To Immigration Detainees (AVID), Gee Manoharan, Co-Director

BARAC UK, Zita Holbourne, National Chair

Birmingham Race Impact Group, Lorna Shaw, Chief Executive

Black Equity Organisation, Timi Okuwa, CEO

Black South West Network, Sado Jirde, CEO

BME National, Barrington Billings, Chair

Boaz Trust, Ros Holland, CEO

BRAP, Joy Warmington, CEO

Bristol City of Sanctuary, Adele Owen, CEO

Care4Calais, Sydney Sopher, Chief Operations Officer

Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN), Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Executive

Centre for Media Monitoring, Rizwana Hamid, Director

Choose Love, Emma Stevenson, Interim CEO

Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights, Sandra Deslandes-Clark, Chair

ECPAT UK, Patricia Durr, CEO

End Violence Against Women Coalition, Janaya Walker, Interim Director

#EthnicityPayGap Campaign, Dianne Greyson, Founder

Equally Ours, Ali Harris, Chief Executive

Europia, Kush Chottera, CEO

EYST Wales, Selima Bahadur, Race and Policy Lead

Freedom from Torture, Kolbassia Haoussou, Director of Survivor Leadership & Influencing

Friends Families and Travellers, Sarah Mann, CEO

Friends of the Earth, Victoria Marsom, Director of Communities & Networks

GIPSIL, Julia Preston, CEO

Global Link, Gisela Renolds, CEO

Greater Manchester Ethnic Communities Network, Atiha Chaudry, Chair & Director

Haringey Welcome, Lucy Nabijou, Chair

Healing Justice Ldn, Farzana Khan, Executive Director

HIAS+JCORE, David Mason, Executive Director

House of Rainbow CIC, Revd Jide Macaulay, Founder/CEO

Humans For Rights Network, Taran Cheema, Advocacy and Casework Manager

Imkaan, Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director

Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA), Linda Woolley, Interim Chief Executive

Inclusive North, Naz Zaman, CEO

Innisfree Housing Association, John Delahunty, Chief Executive

INQUEST, Deborah Coles, CEO

Inspire North, Ruth Kettle, CEO

Jewish Women's Aid, Sam Clifford, CEO

Just for Kids Law, Louise King, Director and Co-lead

Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS), Gisela Valle, Director

Law Centre NI, Liz Griffith, Head of Migration Justice

Liberty, Akiko Hart, Director

Liverpool Advocates For Windrush, Tonika Stephenson, Managing Director

Manchester Community Central, Mike Wild, Chief Executive

Manchester Migrant Solidarity, Aderonke Apata, Founder and Chairperson

Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation (MEWSO), Halaleh Taheri, Executive Director 

Migrant Democracy Project, Lara Parizotto, Executive Director

Migrant Voice, Nazek Ramadan, CEO

Migrants In Culture, Rosalie Schweiker, Co-Director

MLegal, Dr Mohammed Aziz, Director

Music Action International, Lis Murphy, Creative Director

Muslim Charities Forum, Fadi Itani OBE, CEO

Muslim Council of Britain, Dr Wajid Akhter, Secretary General

Mustafia Sharif, Dr Fassah Bibi, CEO & Trustee

NACCOM (the No Accommodation Network), Bridget Young, Director

NHS BME Network, Dr Vivienne Lyfar-Cissé, Chair

NHS Race and Health Observatory, Professor Habib Naqvi MBE, Chief Executive

North East Anti-Racism Coalition, Ngozi Lyn Cole, Chair

Operation Black Vote (OBV), David Weaver, Chair

People's Health Trust, John Hume, CEO

Plan International UK, Kathleen Spencer Chapman, Director of Influencing and External Affairs

Praxis, Minnie Rahman, CEO

Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC, Violet Cannon, CEO

Race Equality Foundation, Jabeer Butt, Chief Executive

Race Equality Network, Humma Nizami, CEO

Race on the Agenda, Matthew Johnson, CEO

Rainbow Noir, Chloe Cousins, Director

Reframing Race, Sanjiv Lingayah, Director

Refugee & Migrant Justice, James Tullet, CEO

Refugee Action, Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive

Release, Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director

Right to Remain, Eiri Ohtani, Director

Rights & Security International, Sabah Hussain, Migration and Citizenship Team Lead

Safe Passage International, Jo Cobley, CEO

S-REP, Aba Graham, CEO

Show Racism the Red Card, Ged Grebby, Chief Executive

Social Workers Without Borders, Annika Joy, CEO

Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association (SEEAWA), Susan Cueva, Trustee

South Gloucestershire Race Equality Network, Carmen Anderson, Chair

Southall Black Sisters (SBS), Selma Taha, Executive Director

Stand For All, Daniel Sohege, Director

Stand Up to Racism, Weyman Bennett and Sabby Dhalu, Co-convenors

StopWatch, Habib Kadiri, Executive Director

Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel, Fadhili Maghiya, CEO

the3million, Monique Hawkins, Acting CEO

The Faith & Belief Forum, Carrie Alderton, CEO

The Traveller Movement, Yvonne MacNamara, CEO

The Ubele Initiative, Yvonne Field OBE, Founder / CEO

The William Gomes Podcast, William Gomes, Director 

Turning Lives Around, Steve Hoey, CEO

Voice4Change England, Sharmin Shajahan, Deputy Director

West End Refugee Service, Andy Durma, Chief Executive

West London Welcome, Leyla Williams, Deputy Director

Women Against the Far Right, Samira Ali, Co-founder

Women for Refugee Women, Carenza Muggleton-Arnold, Head of Campaigns

Women's Resource Centre, Vivienne Hayes OBE, CEO

York Travellers Trust, Sarah Wilson, Interim CEO