Boris Johnson has declared ‘war on woke’ and is taking on battles over historical statues and race to shore up the Tory base, it was claimed today.
Downing Street advisers are said to be keen for the PM to take high-profile stands on cultural issues, focusing on improving life chances rather than bowing to pressure from the Left.
The choice of Munira Mirza, the head Mr Johnson’s policy unit, to set up the new race commission appears to be a sign of the government’s approach.
Supporters say she is an advocate of data-driven policies, but campaigners and Labour MPs say she is a denier of institutional racism and should not be playing a key role in the response to the BLM protests.
They also raised concerns over her alleged decision to give a role to Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, who has angered some with past comments on British Asian communities.
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP and former equalities minister, told the Guardian Ms Mirza’s role ‘undermines its credibility from the very outset by appointing someone who stands by Johnson’s racist comments, rejected the Lammy review, saying ”institutional racism’ is ‘a perception more than a reality”, and opposed Theresa May’s very own Racial Disparities Audit’.
She added: ‘I am tired of fighting the government on this issue. The only review needed is into all the past consultations and reviews as well as their failure to implement over 200 prior recommendations.’
And the Institute for Race Relations ThinkTank said: ‘Any inquiry into inequality has to acknowledge structural and systemic factors.
‘Munira Mirza’s previous comments describes a ”grievance culture” within the anti-racist field and she has previously argued that institutional racism is ‘a perception more than a reality.’
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman this afternoon said: ‘Munira Mirza is the PM’s head of policy, you would expect her to be involved in setting this up.’
The choice of Munira Mirza, the head of the Prime minister’s policy unit and a former deputy mayor from his time in charge of London, sparked uproar from campaigners and Labour MPs
Mr Johnson last night defended his decision to launch a commission on racial inequality after Labour claimed it was a ‘back of a fag packet’ plan designed to ‘assuage the Black Lives Matter protest’
According to the Financial Times, Ms Mirza has had a major influence on Mr Johnson’s views on the cultural struggles.
The paper said advisers were pushing him to declare ‘war on woke’, arguing that it would be popular with core supporters who delivered the Tories the huge election landslide in December.
In a 2017 piece for the Sun, Ms Mirza said that anti-racism campaigners have a ‘culture of grievance’ and appeasing them was ‘not making Britain a fairer place but harming the very people they aspire to help’.
The same year she wrote a piece for right-wing online magazine Spiked headlined ‘the myth of institutional racism’, in which she attacked the racism review carried out by Labour’s now shadow justice secretary David Lammy.
She said Mr Lammy implied BAME people did not trust the justice system because of ‘institutional bias and discrimination’.
Ms Mirza wrote: ‘Certainly there is a historic legacy here from previous decades, but it is equally possible that the current accusations of institutional racism by lobbyists and activists – a perception more than a reality – is behind the further corrosion of public trust.’
In a Sun article that month, she said: ‘By appeasing the anti-racism lobby and affirming its culture of grievance, public institutions and business leaders are not making Britain a fairer place but harming the very people they aspire to help.’
Mr Lammy said: This further undermines Boris’ Johnson’s race commission. My review was welcomed by all parties: Corbyn, Cameron and May. But Munira Mirza went out of her way to attack it.
‘Johnson isn’t listening to Black Lives Matter. He’s trying to wage a culture war.’
Former chancellor Sajid Javid defended Ms Mirza as ‘smart, compassionate and deeply committed to social justice’.
‘One of the sharpest minds inside No 10,’ he said. ‘No wonder the Left don’t like her.’
The Prime Minister last night defended his decision to launch a commission on racial inequality after Labour claimed it was a ‘back of a fag packet’ plan designed to ‘assuage the Black Lives Matter protest’.
He said the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities would learn ‘very fast’ what changes needed to be made.
But Mr Lammy said there have been several reviews into racism in the UK in recent years, and the announcement of another makes it feel like ‘we want figures, data – but we don’t want action’.
Mr Johnson, who also faced criticism for saying he wanted to ‘stop the sense of victimisation and discrimination’, acknowledged that racism ‘unquestionably’ existed in the UK.
He told reporters in Downing Street: ‘The whole point of having a review is to look at the areas where people feel there’s more that needs to be done.
‘I think what we want to do is learn now very fast what fresh changes we need to make.
Concerns were raised over her alleged decision to give a role to Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, who has angered some with past comments on British Asian communities
‘What I feel most strongly is that there are so many positive stories that are not being heard.
‘Things really are changing. You’re seeing young black kids now doing better in some of the most difficult subjects in school than they were ever before, more going to top universities.
‘We need to start telling that story and building up a culture of high expectations, a narrative about success, as well as stamping out the racism and the discrimination that unquestionably exists.’
Downing Street said the review would also examine poor educational outcomes for white working-class boys.
The announcement follows two weeks of protests across the country by the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing in the US of George Floyd, who died as a white police officer knelt on his neck.
The new commission will report directly to Mr Johnson and also be overseen by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.