The Jeremy Corbyn project wants to hear from people within minority communities across Britain. At last. Speaking at the Labour party’s annual conference in Brighton, Dawn Butler, the shadow women and equalities secretary, said, “I need help with my race and faith manifesto” and asked for ideas. The plan is for “nationwide listening events” with ethnic minority groups, intended to help shape party policy.
And Labour wants to get the ball rolling with issues ranging from political representation to making public services more inclusive, as well as examining the legacy of slavery, colonialism and empire. Butler said a better understanding of this British history was a “vital component in the fight against the far right”, which she added was the fastest-growing terrorist threat in the UK. Her words are backed up by the police. In 2018, figures showed that hate crimes had more than doubled in the past five years. And earlier this year, a leading children’s charity found that children were whitening their skin to avoid this terrifying increase in racial abuse.
Related: To fix its problems now, Labour must face the racism in its past | Maya Goodfellow
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