Equality watchdog boss accuses government of ‘dragging its feet over racism’

The Equality and Human Rights Commission this morning launched a stinging broadside against Boris Johnson’s government over racism, accusing it of ‘dragging its feet’ and failing to make it a ‘top priority’ 

Commission chairman David Isaac, who is leaving the organisation’s top role next week, said he appreciated ministers were looking to understand the problem.

But in a series of comments – made just a month after Mr Johnson said the UK had made ‘huge strides’ with racism – he questioned if enough had been done.

He said: ‘I do believe the government is dragging its feet.

‘They seek to understand it but are they taking action and is this a top priority? 

‘I don’t believe so. There are lots of people of colour who need supporting and for that reason a coherent race strategy is a top priority and I call upon the government to act urgently.’ 

The government has announced a new commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to tackle problems with inequality in the UK.

But in an interview with Radio 4 Mr Isaac said there were some ‘quick wins’ that could come in quickly.

He cited sorting out the ethnicity pay gap – where white people are sometimes paid more than black colleagues – as well as banks hiring a more diverse senior team.

The government’s new commission was set up in the wake of protests across the world following the death of George Floyd after he was detained by US police.

In the UK there have already been a number of reports into racism, including one by David Lammy MP and Sir William Macpherson. 

Mr Isaac, whose post ends in August after he has completed his four-year term, said he agreed with people who were surprised there were no black commissioners in his organisation. 

He added: ‘The time for more recommendations in my view is over.

‘We know what needs to be done. Let’s get on with it.’

The government said in a statement it was ‘committed to tackling racism as part of our mission to unite and level-up the country’.

It added: ‘This new, independent commission is broader in scope in comparison to previous reviews, and builds on the work of the Race Disparity Audit.

‘We continue to take action on recommendations from previous reviews that we have agreed to take forward. This new commission will improve our evidence base to change lives for the better.

‘We ask that those with strong views engage with the commission.’

Kemi Badenoch, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Equalities Minister, who is the sponsoring minister for the new commission, said Mr Isaac never mentioned the ‘dragging its feet’ complaint with her.

She said: ‘It is disappointing because I have had several meetings with him and he has never raised that with me.

‘This is a top priority for me, it’s simply not true the government is dragging its heels on this issue – I absolutely refute that.

‘This is one of the really interesting things, you mentioned the Lammy review for example, that is something this government – well certainly under Theresa May – commissioned an opposition MP, a Labour MP, we are taking the recommendations forward.

‘We have already carried out 16 of them, there were only two out of 35 recommendations we rejected and yet people act as if none of this work is happening.

‘There is so much that has been done all the way back to Macpherson. We don’t accept every single recommendation that’s been put forward obviously, this is a government that writes its own policy, we don’t outsource the policy making, but one of the things this commission is doing is actually looking at why is it despite all of these actions people still believe that we are doing nothing.’