“I wish Keir listened to me.”
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of not listening to the Labour Party’s race relations adviser.
Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, who is the mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, reportedly told a private meeting of Labour’s ethnic minority MPs and peers:
“I wish Keir listened to me.”
Baroness Lawrence allegedly complained of “gatekeepers” around the Labour leader who had prevented her work.
She also said she no longer knew how to respond to complaints about the party from black and minority ethnic voters.
Her comments come amid increasing unease about the treatment of Black and Asian Labour MPs and voters, including the long-standing investigation into Diane Abbott.
Baroness Lawrence is also alleged to have suggested that Sir Keir needed to spend more time visiting diverse communities and churches with black congregations.
She reportedly questioned Labour’s decision to scale back a conference at which Sir Keir had been due to unveil plans for new race equality legislation last month.
It was reported that the meeting was scaled back amid security concerns, understood to be a pro-Palestine protest, and as key MPs vowed to stay away from the event.
Baroness Lawrence was appointed as Labour’s race relations adviser in 2020 after she praised Sir Keir for his role in securing justice for her family after the highly publicised racist murder of her son in the 1990s.
Her first duty as a Labour Party adviser was to investigate the impact of the Covid pandemic in ethnic minority communities.
Since Sir Keir became Labour leader, the pair have since made several public appearances.
This included launching a report on Labour’s proposed race equality act, which the party says will extend full equal pay rights to black, Asian, ethnic minority and disabled workers for the first time.
Baroness Lawrence told The Times: “Of course, I’m always going to push the party to do more as the fight for equality is never done, but I’ve known Keir for years and I’ve no doubts about his commitment to equality and fighting racism.
“That’s why I’ve been proud to work with Labour to develop their plans for a new race equality act.”
Several Labour members previously said the party needs to “get its own house in order” by addressing racial discrimination within its ranks.
The Forde report uncovered a “hierarchy of racism” within Labour, with many saying they felt the “overwhelmingly white” Labour Party was an unwelcoming place for people of colour.
Sir Keir apologised for the findings but Mr Forde has since criticised the speed at which Labour has implemented his recommendations for improving how it dealt with sexism, racism, bullying and factionalism.
As of December 2023, only 154 of the 165 proposals had been implemented.
Loading ...