In Britain the fact that police stop-and-search rates varied considerably dependent on one’s ethnic background has long been recognised as a problem, but data published by the government earlier this week highlighted alarming details: in the southern county of Dorset, black people were 19 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people (well above the national average). The same data trove also presented striking differences within communities. For example, Indians and Chinese are far less likely to be stopped and searched than other Asian communities, and even compared to British White communities, according to data from 2014-15. This represented a marked change over the past eight years, during which time stop-and-search rates for British Indians had more than halved. The report also showed a steady rate of increase in the employment level of Britain’s Indian community over the years, with the highest percentage of those earning over £1,000 a week.
The data will continue to be put together on a website at the heart of a government initiative to gather data on the way one’s ethnic background impacted one’s life chances in Britain — with over 130 data variables covering crime, housing, health and education. The government has touted it as a world-first in terms of the depth of the data gathered, presenting Britain with an opportunity to analyse and address systemic issues. “If disparities can’t be explained, they must be changed,” Prime Minister Theresa May told a meeting of stakeholders this week. So far, the government has made a number of pledges of reform — including relating to the treatment of prisoners, the exclusion of children from schools, and employment opportunities.
While the report and associated data gathering has been by and large welcomed, it has faced criticism from some, including the former deputy Mayor of London and former adviser to Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary. Writing to the Times earlier this week, Munira Mirza, and others, all belonging to minority ethnic backgrounds, insisted it presented an “overly pessimistic picture” of modern Britain, with other cultural and social reasons potentially explaining the disparities, creating a “false perception of victim status”. The report faced some criticism from the Left too, with some arguing it was merely a reiteration of facts that were already known, while others said it risked presenting a unidimensional picture of the issues facing Britain. A separate report by the Runnymede Trust highlighted how the government’s austerity regime was hitting black and Asian women the hardest.
Cuts to services
The Labour’s equality spokesperson Dawn Butler argued the government had long known the cuts to services that had happened over the past seven years had fallen disproportionately on minority groups, women, the disabled and older people, but it still pushed forward with the cuts. “Far from tackling burning injustices, she [Ms. May] has added fuel to the fire,” she told the House of Commons earlier this week.
However, many, including critics of the government, are optimistic that the data and analysis could act as a much-needed spur for action that benefits the U.K.’s multicultural population. London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan was among those to welcome the report and pledge to use its findings in his own work to tackle inequality in London, while urging the central government to do the same. “Theresa May’s decision to shine a light on this issue means she can’t now shy away from tackling the causes of this inequality — cuts to public services and a shrinking state,” said the leader of the Liberal Democrats Vincent Cable.
(Vidya Ram works for The Hindu and is based in London)
