Summer First Edition

8/9/2019 Summer First Edition

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q&A: hope nothAtes nick lowles

Achieving diversity

in the mediArAce equAlity Andthe election

summer 2010 / issue 362runnymede

pArticipAtio

n

And

representAtion

Intelligence fora multi-ethnic Britain


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2| runnymede Bulletin | SUMMER 2010 / ISSUE 362 ..

r

Bulletin

d rb BDirector

saa iaDeputy Director

dr dbbi wks-BrnarSenior Research &Policy Analyst

d oa kaSenior Research &Policy Analyst

Ja ma sResearch & PolicyAnalyst

kjaa p sResearch & PolicyAnalyst

p maResearch & PolicyAnalyst

vaaa BfReal Histories Directory

rb FaPublications Editor

na kEditor, RunnymedeOnline

c kBusiness DevelopmentManager

v BPublic Aairs Ocer

kaa szProject Assistant

ka gProject Assistant

rffa AArt Project Manager

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ISSN: 1476-363X

The Runnymede Trust,May 2010. Open access,some rights reserved,subject to the termsof Creative CommonsLicence Deed: Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivative Works 2.0 UK:England & Wales. You are

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r is the UKsleading race equalitythinktank. We are aresearch-led, non-party

political charity workingto end racism.

WELCOME to the Summer 2010 edition of the online Runnymede Bulletin.

As our young coalition government nds its feet, this quarters magazinetakes the timely theme of participation and representation.

Look out for the symbol on our contents page for everything on topic.

Our main interview from page 26 is, ttingly, with Nick Lowles - head of theHope not Hate campaign, which we all have to thank for keeping the BritishNational Party out of Londons councils.

Meanwhile, from page 4 our public aairs ocer Vicki Butler condensesmonths of campaigning and complex policy ideas into a handy two-pageguide on all things race equality related.

Why do local politicians across the party lines think that greater black andminority ethnic representation matters? Find out on page 29.

Away from politics, turn to page 14 for a comment from the BBCs headof diversity on how we might encourage more and better ethnic minorityrepresentation in broadcasting.

And away from representation, on page 16 Dr Rosalind Edwards bringstogether some of the ndings of a fascinating research report looking atsingle mums bringing up mixed-race children.

Guardian readers among you may also have heard mention about anarticle on academy schools, exclusions and race equality. Read it in fullfrom page 12.

That is far from all, so Ill leave you to leaf through in your own time andexplore the rest.

As ever, a massive thank you to all the fabulous people who lent us theirthoughts, expertise, words and images to produce this very-swiftly pulledtogether Summer edition. We know your time is precious, and we appreciateevery second of it.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for what you would like to see inforthcoming bulletins, please get in touch with me at the email address below.

na k, Editor

[email protected]

Front cover photo by Georgie Gallop

editorsLETTER


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.. SUMMER 2010 / ISSUE 362|runnymede Bulletin |3

contents

14

04

12

on the cover

26 q&AHope not Hates Nick Lowles onhow the campaign is successfullytackling the threat of the far right

04 rAce equAlity & the 2010generAl election

A look at the election campaignsand results from a race equalityperspective

12 Achieving diversity in themediA industry

The BBCs head of diversity onhow more diverse faces behindthe scenes could change output

regulArs

24 key FActsTen facts you ought to knowabout race and representation

25 vox popLocal councillors on whyrepresentation of black andminority ethnic groups matters

29 reviewsReader on race and a lm aboutsuicide bombers

31 directors columnRob Berkeley on why we need toremember the longer term costs

of spending cuts

A view From...

22 ...wAlesHow does black Welsh t in withblack British? Or doesnt it?

23 ...polAndThe Polish political climate haschanged since the death of aretinue of its top politicians

FeAtures

06 FinAnciAl inclusionpolicy & the coAlition

How might our young coalitiongovernment aect race equalityin nancial inclusion?

08 comBAtting the BnpFresh tactics needed incampaign against far right

10 AcAdemies & exclusionsAs the debate about academyschools rages, we take a look attheir worrying exclusion rates

14 lone mothers oF miixedrAciAl And ethnic children

Read about the experiences andracisms faced by lone mums withmixed race children

18 is proportionAlrepresentAtion Better?

A look at alternative votingsystems and how, if at all, theycould impact black and minorityethnic representation

21 rAcist violenceBest practice in prevention andwhy it is so important


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Partys rst Asian and Black female MPsrespectively, as well as the UKs rstKurdish politician Nadhim Zahawi.

Labour newcomer Chuka Umunna

took the seat of Streatham with a 3529

majority, while Rushanara Ali achieved

one of Labours only gains in the election

by winning the seat of Bethnal Green and

Bow from Respect with an 11,574 majority.

Other new BME MPs includedConservatives Rehman Chishti, SamGyimah, Sajid Javid, Kwasi Kwarteng,Alok Sharma and Paul Uppal. NewBME Labour MPs included ShabanaMahmood, Lisa Nandy, Chi Onwurah,Yasmin Qureshi, Anas Sarwar and ValerieVaz, Keith Vazs sister.

Veteran BME MPs David Lammy, DianeAbbott and Adam Afriyie were alsoreturned to Westminster with increasedmajorities. In one of the biggest surprisesof the night, former transport ministerand Labour MP Sadiq Khan successfullydefended his Tooting seat from strongTory opposition.

However, the evening also saw a number

of prominent BME parliamentarians losetheir seats. In one of the tightest battles

of the election, Labours Dawn Butler

was defeated by Liberal Democrat Sarah

Teather, who has since been appointedas an education minister. The pair were

previously MPs in neighbouring seats,

but boundary changes put the two head-

T

he last few months have seen avariety of changes within the UKpolitical scene. We have had

one of the most exciting electioncampaigns, resulting in the UKs rsthung parliament since the 1970s. In thisarticle we examine the events of the lastfew months and their potential impact onrace equality.

t aa

The 2010 election campaign was ahistoric one for a number of reasons not least because it saw the rsttelevised prime ministerial debates in

the UK. While in retrospect the debatesappeared to have little impact on the nalelection result, one of the most strikingaspects was that the public for the rsttime saw Liberal Democrat leader NickClegg placed head to head with Brownand Cameron and, for a short while atleast, they liked what they saw.

While Cleggs rise to prominence did nottranslate into votes on polling day, it diddraw attention to the Liberal Democratpolicies on immigration which hadbeen seen by many migration rightsgroups as being the most progressive ofthe three parties policies on the issue.The Lib Dems manifesto for examplecalled for a route to citizenship for non-documented migrants who had proofof their residence in the UK for at leastten years. Meanwhile Labour argued infavour of their points based system, andthe Conservatives argued for a cap onnumbers of migrants.However, Cleggs policies came underre in the press as well as the leadershipdebates, with both Brown and Cameron

labelling the Lib Dems policies as weak.Perhaps because of this criticism, ifnot because of the realities of coalitionpolitics, when entering government

after the election, Clegg was forced toretreat on his manifesto commitments onimmigration. Instead he has supported

the Conservatives plans for a cap onnon-EU migration.

Though race equality was not giventhe same attention as immigration inthe election campaign, a number ofcampaigning groups worked hard tokeep it on the electoral agenda.

Organisations including OperationBlack Vote (OBV), Equanomics and the1990 Trust were particularly active in thecampaign. The groups collaborated toproduce the Black Manifesto, a document

designed to keep race equality issueshigh on the political agenda

OBV also hosted the popular Black BritainDecides rally which featured seniorparliamentarians Harriet Harman, VinceCable and George Osborne. Throughoutthe election campaign, OBV argued thatthe black vote could signicantly impactthe outcome of the general election,highlighting the fact that marginal seatscould easily be swung by black andminority ethnic (BME) votes, in particular

highlighting Finchley & Golders Green,Battersea, and Crawley.

t

The nal election result saw a historic

number of ethnic minority MPs elected toparliament, with the number rising from14 to 27. Notable winners include PritiPatel and Helen Grant, the Conservative

v B a Faa s take a look back at the election andassess what the changes may mean, in terms of black and minorityethnic representation and for race equality more broadly

Race equality and the

2010 generalelection

The nal election result saw ahistoric number of ethnic minorityMPs elected to parliament


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to-head in the new seat of Brent Central.Other unlucky former MPs includedLabours Parmjit Dhanda and Shahid

Malik who were defeated in Gloucesterand Dewsbury respectively.

Several high-prole BME parliamentarycandidates were also unlucky on electionnight. The self-styled black farmerand Conservative candidate WilfredEmmanuel-Jones unexpectedly failedto take the seat of Chippenham fromthe Liberal Democrats. Another shockresult was the failure of Shaun Baileyto win the seat of Hammersmith for theConservatives from the Labour Party.Bailey was one of the most well-knownConservative hopefuls, dubbed by someas being one of the Tatler Tories afterposing for the high-society magazine. Thetotal number of BME Labour MPs is now13, up ten from 2005. Most strikingly, thenumber of ethnic minority ConservativeMPs has leapt from two to 11. However,the Liberal Democrats still have no ethnicminority MPs in Westminster, having hadonly one BME MP in their history.

la

Despite claiming that he would create

a political earthquake, British National

Party (BNP) leader Nick Grin failed to

make it to Westminster. The BNP were

in fact unceremoniously ejected from

Barking & Dagenham Council, as all 12

of their councillors lost their seats. Theopenly racist partys campaign cannot

have been helped by former party group

leader, Bob Bailey, who was lmed ghting

in the street in the run up to the election.

Overall the BNP suered catastrophic

losses. Prominent BNP councillor, Chris

Beverley lost his seat on Leeds City

Council. The party also lost councillors in

Stoke-on-Trent, an area once described

by Grin as the partys jewel in the crown.

t afa

The battle did not end on election night,

as there was no party that achieved an

overall majority on 7 May 2010. Instead,

after ve days of discussions between

the Conservative Party and the Liberal

Democrats, the unlikeliest of couples

formed a historic coalition agreement

the rst between the two since 1974.

New prime minister David Cameron

and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg

have hailed the union as the beginningof a new kind of politics in Westminster,

and as an agreement greatly needed

due to the current economic backdrop.

ia a?

Despite the coalition partners appointing

a cabinet of diverse political views,there is little diversity of ethnicity,gender or economic background in thegovernment. Though Baroness Warsi,now chair of the Conservative Party,made history by becoming the rstMuslim to be appointed to the cabinet,she is one of only two politicians from anethnic minority background in the entirecoalition government, with ShaileshVara MP appointed as an assistantgovernment whip.

Fresh from the wounds of electoraldefeat, the Labour leadership battle,for a while at least, looked as if it wouldbe no more diverse, with an entirelywhite, male and Oxbridge-educatedlist of candidates. However, after callsfrom many for a more diverse groupof candidates for the position, long-term race equality campaigner and MPDiane Abbott announced her candidacy.Following a dramatic battle to receive the33 parliamentary nominations required toformally stand, Abbott nally made it onto

the ballot paper on 9 June 2010, makingher the rst black candidate ever to standfor the position of leader in the UKs threemajor political parties.

FeAture

uf capa aa wfea-J


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Runnymedes nancial inclusion team

has been riing through the new

governments coalition agreement

and listening to the Queens speech,

hungry to know which direction things are

moving in. We have been thinking keenly about

how the nancial inclusion policy landscape

will change under a new government that has

a clear priority to reduce the public decit

at a fast rate, and largely by cutting publicspending. Which policies will be scrapped,

kept or introduced? It is an important time to

pause, take stock and anticipate what this new

situation means for race equality.

Our work in the forthcoming couple of

years will focus on barriers to money advice

services, pension inequalities and obstacles

to saving. We have also been looking at

nancial inclusion issues among older black

and minority ethnic (BME) people. This

involves nding out how the disadvantage

and exclusion that older people experience

affects their freedom to choose where to retire

to (in the UK or abroad), to live in a decent

home, to contribute to family life and to

access appropriate health and other services.

p a

Giving people access to affordable and

quality money advice has been a central

aspect of nancial inclusion policy for years.

Indeed, March of this year saw the then-

chancellor Alistair Darling MP ofcially

launch the Money Guidance service, which

gives free and impartial guidance on a range

of nancial matters, from budgeting to

borrowing to planning for retirement. This

coincided with the publishing of our report

Seeking Sound Advice: Financial Inclusion

and Ethnicity (bit.ly/soundadvice), which

describes Bangladeshi, black Caribbean and

Chinese peoples nancial troubles, their

desire for money advice and their experiences

of exclusion from existing sources of advice,

such as banks and independent nancial

advisers. We then presented to the Financial

Services Authority (FSA) the reports

recommendations on how Money Guidancecould include and meet the needs of BME

people. These include the important role of

BME money advisers and face-to-face advice

sessions, in encouraging marginalised people

to take up the service.

Time will tell whether the new government

really values nancial inclusion initiatives

such as Money Guidance, but we are pleased

at plans to continue to support this particular

scheme. Now operating under the recently-

created Consumer Financial Education Body,

we are optimistic that Money Guidance will provide nancial support to many BME

people in different communities. However,

receiving advice can only improve peoples

nancial situation so far tackling upstream

issues such as a lack of opportunities in the

labour market and low levels of education are

central to improving peoples lives.

p

Changes in pensions policy are signicant

given the marked ethnic inequalities in

pensioner poverty. The risk of pensioner poverty among Bangladeshi and Pakistani

people is 49 per cent, compared to 17 per cent

for white people. BME people are also less

likely than others to have a private pension

or to receive the State Second Pension (S2P).

To reduce the large number of people

not saving for retirement, the previous

government developed a policy to ensure

that employers would automatically enrol

their employees into a workplace pension

scheme from 2012, giving them the choice of

to opting out. The new government appears

willing to support auto-enrolment, although it

is unclear whether it will continue to develop

NEST, which is a simple pension scheme into

which employees, employers and government

would make contributions.

We have welcomed these developments,

recognising that auto-enrolment would help

overcome the inertia that partly explains why

half of those aged 25 and 34 are not saving

for retirement. However, there is a real danger

that advances in policy will do little to enable

many BME people to save enough to enjoy

a comfortable and stable retirement. A reportthat is with the priniters now looks at the

barriers to pensions faced by self-employed

BME people - owning small businesses is

particularly common among Pakistani and

Bangladeshi people. This is partly due to a

cultural appreciation of running a business, but

is also a response to the limited opportunities

and discrimination that BME people face.

c

Concerns highlighted by the report includethe worry that BME people who are self-

employed will continue to be at risk of

pensioner poverty through not being able to

contribute to and receive the State Second

Pension (S2P). Furthermore, self-employed

people will not be auto-enrolled into NEST,

they must voluntarily opt in. However, even

those that do so will not benet from the

employer contribution, providing them with

fewer pension savings overall.

Another worry is the plan to increase the State

Pension Age to 66 (and eventually 68) at an

even faster rate than planned by the previousgovernment, as set out in the Pensions and

Savings Bill. This may particularly affect

BME people, who often experience high

levels of ill health. Statistics from the 2001

Census show that Pakistani and Bangladeshi

people are much more likely than white

British people to suffer a long-term illness

or disability that restricts daily activities.

Raising the pension age may mean that many

BME people suffering ill health are forced to

work later into life.

w a fa

Disadvantage in the world of work and

the resulting low income is at the root of

much nancial exclusion that BME people

experience, such as low levels of savings,

reliance on expensive credit, high levels of

debt. Unemployment is high among BME

communities, particularly among black

and Bangladeshi people. Recent research

carried out for the Department for Work and

Pensions (DWP) involved applying for jobs

using application forms containing identical

qualications, but with a variety of namesassociated with different ethnic groups. The

results showed that job discrimination on the

basis of ethnicity still exists.

p ma explores the new nancial policy landscape.

Financial inclusion


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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80Ethnic minorities

Whole population

Figure 1. Access to pensions by ethnicity(% of all employees and self-employed)

Proportion accruing

private pension

Proportion building up

entitlement to S2P

53

39

75

65

The coalition government has said it will

promote equal pay and introduce measures

to end discrimination in the workplace. One planned measure is to provide internships at

Whitehall departments for people from under-

represented ethnic groups. We welcome

such measures, but it remains to be seen

whether new policies will have enough bite

to deliver real change. One way to combat

racial discrimination could be to require job

applications to be name-blind. To make a

real impact such a policy would have to be

applied to the private as well as public sector,

requiring strong political will.

Less positively, the government has

scrapped the Future Jobs Fund, whichguaranteed work or training to 18-24 year

olds out of work for six months. This

will have a big impact on BME people

trying to get into work, with almost half

of black people aged between 16 and 24

unemployed, compared to 20 per cent of

white people of the same age.

Welfare reform has been a hot topic since the

election. Sweeping changes are expected, with

a renewed drive to get people off benets,

coupled with the likelihood of signicant

cuts to welfare spending. It will be importantto monitor policy changes, including the

progression of the Welfare Reform Bill, in

order to anticipate any potentially harmful

effects on people living in poverty, including

many BME people.

o aa

Welcome news includes the governments

plans to give Post Ofce Card account holders

the ability to set up direct debits and enjoy the

discounts they bring. In the area of credit, the

government intends to ban excessive interest

rates on credit and store cards, to introduce

a seven-day cooling off period for store

cards and to oblige credit card companies to

provide better information to allow customers

to compare prices. These measures may help

protect consumers from entering into spiralsof debt. However, they will not address

the underlying reality that many people

experiencing poverty and disadvantage take on

credit to make up for shortfalls in their income.

We were disappointed to hear that Child Trust

Funds (CTFs) will be scrapped. CTFs are tax-

free investment funds for children, made up of

contributions from the government and family

members. The children who benet from the

scheme get access to the fund when they

reach 18, with the option of putting it towards

further education fees or a housing deposit.

CTFs are seen as an aid to social mobility,

particularly helping people in low-income

families to invest in their future, as well as

to develop good saving habits. It is therefore

a blow to the nancial well-being and social

mobility of many disadvantaged and BME

people that this policy will come to an end.

s aa

Stepping back from the detail of individual

policies, we can see that the way the whole

policy landscape is shifting raises big

concerns over nancial exclusion and its

underlying causes. The new government

is focusing squarely on cutting the public

decit through fast and deep cuts to public

spending. Some observers are sceptical about

the likelihood that the pain will be shared

across society, despite David Camerons

pledge to protect the poorest among us. As

the Big Society is promoted, the state is

likely to shrink. This may mean a reduction in

nancial support, whether direct to peoples

pockets, or indirectly via schools and other

public services. It may also mean that we have

a government with less hunger, willpower and

strength to intervene in the market to reduce

inequality and to support those who start lifeat the bottom of the pile. Such a government

is unlikely to be one that tackles racial

inequalities head-on.

Business ownership is common

among Pakistani and Bangladeshi

people, partly due to discrimination

in other employment

FeAture

after the election


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government was reluctant to act against these groups, acollection of ex-servicemen by no means all of whom wereJewish were intent on preventing the spread of these ideasby whatever means available. To that end they founded The 43Group. The groups preferred tactic was to rush fascist streetmeetings and wherever possible overturn the speakers tables,causing ghts to break out and the meetings to be broken upby the police. Constant pressure from the 43 Group and otherseventually caused the post-war fascist revival to grind to a halt.

In the context of the current wave of far-right activity, this tacticholds an appeal for many anti-fascists who grew up hearingtales about the glorious Battle of Cable Street, which apparentlyhalted a fascist march through Londons East End. As such, itseems protable to consider just what relevance, and thereforeutility, such tactics would have in the current climate.

Groups like Unite Against Fascism (UAF) do not openlyadvocate violence, but their strategy still centres on interruptingor preventing BNP campaigns wherever possible. Surelythe 43 Group provides a clear and encouraging model forresisting the far right in our own time? Well, Id argue probablynot, and for several reasons. The rst is the particular politicalsituation in which the group operated. Short of inciting activepublic disorder, the Union movement was legally free to makeextremely oensive and threatening comments about Jewsand Aliens, or even about the Holocaust. Making these claimstoday would render them liable for prosecution.

More important is the level of legitimacy under which the dierentparties operated in the past. Even in their pre-war height, fascistmovements in Britain had not gained anything like mainstreampolitical status. Arguments can be made as to why, but the factremains that even compared to their opponents on the left, theBUF remained a threatening fringe rather than a serious electoralprospect. Smaller groups like Arthur Leeses Imperial FascistLeague remained minuscule, even by the BUFs standards. Of

course, the BNP remains a minority concern as well. However,like it or not, the party has won seats in local elections andon the international stage, and has even challenged a long-standing representative of the incumbent party for a seat inparliament. Even a failed electoral attempt at a parliamentaryseat represents signicant progress for the party in terms ofbeing taken seriously on the national stage. This representsa level of integration into the political mainstream that Mosleycould only dream of. This dierence is signicant because alack of legitimacy made the Union movement and its outliersparticularly susceptible to the disruptive tactics of the 43 Group.Every disturbance at a Union rally and every ght that had tobe broken up by police reinforced the idea that this was not avalid or credible political party and never could be. Crucially,

it cemented this impression among the respectable middleclass, which had not been exposed to fascist aggression beforethe war and was susceptible to propaganda if the distributors

FeAture

kaaj g argues for a moresophisticated discourse to tacklethe far right as it gains legitimacy

Fresh tactics needed in

campaign against far right

The recent general election oered, for the rst time, theunpalatable prospect of the British National Party (BNP)gaining a foothold in British Parliament. BNP leader Nick

Grin challenged Barkings Labour MP Margaret Hodge and,if successful, would have crowned a streak of victories thathas seen the party win seats in the London Assembly and theEuropean Parliament.

Grin was defeated into third place, but the fact of his challengehas caused many observers to become concerned by therenaissance of the far right in recent years. Past eorts to counterthe partys rise have tended to focus on the disruption of partyevents and gatherings and an insistence on not allowing the BNPto share a platform with mainstream parties. Rhetorically, suchanti-BNP attacks have relied on more or less open accusationsof Nazism. While this comparison has emotive power, it is notnecessarily the most eective tactic and, as the partys growth in

popularity implies, new methods are required. A more eectivestrategy may be to focus debate on subjects with which seriousparties must engage, such as taxation, in order to highlight thelack of intellectual rigour that the BNP would bring to these keyissues. In order to evaluate the eectiveness of these strategiesit will be useful to compare resistance to the BNP with theresistance to an equivalent extremist movement: the post-warUnion Movement led by Oswald Mosley, the founder of theBritish Union of Fascists (BUF).

At the end of the Second World War, thousands of British citizens

were released from internment for fascist sympathies under the

18b legislation. This followed the release of Oswald Mosley in

1943. A signicant number of these internees retained their oldpolitical sympathies and it was not long before a variety of smaller

movements sprung up that advocated much of the old fascist

programme. This time, however, they had learned the lessons of

the pre-war period and of internment. As far as possible the term

fascist was eschewed in favour of patriot or union. The most

prominent of these groups, and the one which would later subsume

most of the others, was Oswald Mosleys Union movement. There

are considerable similarities between the Union movement and

modern far right parties such as the BNP. Perhaps the most

prescient for this discussion is that both engaged in extensive

eorts to re-brand themselves, yet were and are persistently

labelled as disguised (often barely disguised) fascists.

Large swathes of the population felt deeply aggrieved thatpeople should be free to preach the sort of hatred they believedthe country had gone to war to combat. While the Labour


9/32


There are a great many moral objections to racism and

fascism, however, one very good practical objection is that

they do not work. The NHS would not last a day without the

kind of large-scale immigration the BNP opposes. Even the

fact that racial violence almost always increases in the wake

of a BNP local victory has not proved as damning for the

party as it should because potential supporters are so cynical

about the opposition that such accusations lack credibility.

The nal point that separates the 43 Group and the Union partyfrom the BNP and groups like UAF, is that the 43 Group was well-established within the communities in which it operated. Thesecommunities often had a history of fascist intimidation andrecognised a blackshirt when they saw one, even if the uniformhad become casual. Without serious community engagementwith the issues that gave the BNP a foothold in the rst place,

mere sloganeering rings hollow.

Unfortunately there are no quick xes to this problem. Opposingthe rise of the far right and the political ambitions of the BNPare vital issues. However it cannot be done with counter demosand posters alone. There are reasons why people move over tosupporting the far right. These issues run deeper than simplybeing duped by fascist propaganda. Political disillusionmentbrought on by economic hardship, unemployment and acollapse of alternative forms of identity and solidarity all playtheir part. In such an environment the habit of yelling abuse atthe BNP without presenting alternatives seems a particularlymisguided tactic. Rather, what is needed is serious and long-term community engagement with these complaints and thedemands of the communities involved. Support for the BNP ismore of a symptom than a cause of political crisis; it is a fatalmistake to view it otherwise.

FeAture

Photo:KerryBuckley

seemed trustworthy or respectable. The constant associationof the Union movement with violence was fatal to this dynamic.Similarly disruptive tactics deployed against the BNP simply donot have the same eect. Rather they serve to conrm the partysnarrative of a patriotic underdog being suppressed by whatevermeans. By simply declaring The BNP is a Nazi party; smash theBNP, movements such as UAF simply reinforce the idea that theBNPs assailants will say anything to discredit them. Meanwhile,the party has made studious (and apparently successful) eortsto re-brand itself as respectable, and separate its new identityfrom its old, violent image. At a conference in 2008 Britishsociologist Paul Gilroy argued prophetically that when the partyis in a position to send ... well spoken and respectable youngwomen out canvassing, the anti-racist campaigners wouldstruggle because the old cries of Nazi will no longer appearcredible. The BNPs recent electoral successes and NickGrins not entirely laughable bid for the Barking constituency

suggest that this time is upon us.

Yet still the debate has consisted of accusations of Nazism,

countered by BNP claims that they are being suppressed by

leftist traitors inimical to British interests. While the debate

remains at this level there is little room for engagement with

what those interests are. This is a serious issue; it ensures

the BNP have had an easy ride with the sections of society

they intend to attract. They never have to formulate a

serious policy beyond muddled ethnographic claims about

Anglo-Saxon Britishness and repatriation of immigrants.

Their record in power is almost universally abysmal, their

policies on the NHS, the economy, pensions and education

ill-thought through, un-pragmatic and, on occasion, simply

bizarre. These issues would sink a more established party,

yet they are not fatal for the BNP because the debate never

even approaches them.


10/32


It is easy, when looking into school

exclusion rates, to forget that human stories

lie behind the numbers. Formula One 2008

Drivers Champion Lewis Hamilton is one

case in point. Aged 16, he was excluded from

school in a case of mistaken identity after he

witnessed an attack.

In his autobiography, My Story, he writes:

I knew I was innocent but (the headteacher)

did not appear to be interested. Subsequent

letters to the local education authority, our

local MP, the education secretary and even

the prime minister, were of no help. No one

appeared to listen no one either wanted to or

had the time. We were on our own, and I was

out of school.Hamiltons experiences of isolation and

rejection due to this miscarriage of justice

are shared by many black pupils each year,

as documented in various research studies,

such as Maud Blairs Why Pick on Me?

Though the public image of excluded pupils

is one of unruly youngsters attacking staff

or other pupils, this is not the reality in

most cases. The most common reason for

permanent exclusion is persistent disruptive

behaviour: a very broad and ill-dened area

that accounted for more than 30 per cent of

permanent exclusions in the most recently

published data. By contrast, physical assaults

against other pupils and staff accounted for

15.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent of exclusions

respectively. Such assaults are of course very

serious, but they do not lie behind the majority

of school exclusions.

g b

Academy schools were established by

the last Labour government as a means

of granting greater autonomy to selected

secondary schools. Initially, City Academies

were established in urban areas to serve

disadvantaged communities: they are publicly

funded independent schools, nanced by

central government and operating outside

local authority (LA)- control. Subsequently

academies were established beyond urban

areas and the requirement to nd an initial

contribution of 2million from outside public

funds was waived. Both the Labour and

Conservative parties entered the 2010 general

election making academies a major part of

their education plans, at which point there

were 203 of them open to students.

Following the establishment

of our Conservative Liberal

Democrat coalition

government in May 2010,

academies have been at

the heart of rapid policy

developments. Two weeks

after the coalition published itsinitial agreement, Secretary of

State for Education Michael Gove

MP wrote to all headteachers inviting

them to apply for academy status.

Seven days later, Gove announced that

1,114 schools had contacted his department

in response to the invitation, 626 of which

were rated as outstanding in their last report

by inspections body Ofsted, and therefore

already pre-approved for academy status.

The expansion in the number of academy

schools could see a steep rise in the number of

permanent exclusions. It has been known for

sometime that, on average, academies exclude

considerably more pupils than LA-maintained

schools. However, no data on race and academy

exclusions has been available, until now.

Earlier this year Runnymedes exclusions

e-conference (bit.ly/exclusions) included an

exchange about academies and their record on

exclusions. A reply by the then Department

for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)

(now the Department for Education) offered

the rst concrete statement on race and

academy exclusions. The response said:

Academies often inherit a large number of

disengaged pupils from their predecessorschools and need to establish good behaviour

in order to raise attainment. As the new ethos

and behaviour policies are implemented

Forthefull

references&tabled

datathatgowiththis

articleemailonline@

runnymedetrust.org

Photo:BenjaminChia

l ha mBe, a f a 16

The expected rise in the number academy schools raises several

concerns. da gb a da d compare exclusion ratesbetween types of school, and among dierent ethnic groups

Academy exclusions


11/32


in an academys early days, the number of

exclusions may rise, but it typically falls

as behaviour improves. Taking account of

academies overall exclusion rates (across the

range of ethnicities), recent analysis has shown

that there is not a disproportionately higherrate of exclusions of black pupils against non-

black exclusions in academies compared with

mainstream secondary schools.

c f aa

The rst thing to note is that, at present,

academies are somewhat more diverse than

the pupil population nationally: 62 per cent

of academy pupils are white, compared with

83 per cent of pupils across LA-maintained

secondary schools.

After their white peers, black pupilsmake up the next largest group in academies:

almost 20 per cent were categorised as black

Caribbean, black African, other black or

mixed (with one white parent and one black

Caribbean or black African parent). This same

group accounted for just 5 per cent of pupils

in LA-maintained secondary schools.

This prole reects the location of

academies; most have been established in

urban areas with greater than average levels

of disadvantage. However, as academy status

spreads and includes a signicant number of

schools that are already performing above the

average, it is likely that the pupil prole willbecome less diverse.

ra a

Academies permanently exclude pupils at

roughly twice the rate of LA-maintained

secondary schools.

Overall, pupils in academies are excluded

at a rate of 0.42 per cent (which means that

around four pupils in every thousand are

permanently excluded); the rate for LA-

maintained secondaries is 0.21 per cent

(roughly two pupils per thousand).

In academies the relatively high rate of

exclusion among several groups is striking.

Black pupils are generally the most likely

to be excluded from academies; pupils

categorised as any other black background,

black Caribbean, and mixed: (white and black

Caribbean) are excluded at the rate of 0.74,

0.72 and 0.64 per cent respectively. The black

Caribbean rate is 3.6 times that for whites in

an LA-maintained secondary school.

However, white pupils are twice as likely

to be excluded from academies as from LA-

maintained schools. By contrast, pupilscategorised as black African or Asian are

marginally less likely to be excluded from

academies than from other types of school.

Of course, it is not possible to guarantee

that we are comparing like with like. To date

academies have served more diverse and

disadvantaged populations than the national

average. However, in view of the imminent

expansion of academies these gures sound

an important warning. Academies exclude

signicantly more pupils than their local

authority counterparts. Despite the doubling

of exclusion rates for white pupils, a

signicant race inequality remains because

most exclusion rates for black pupils also rise

in academies. It is vital that the expansion

of academy status is carefully monitored for

signs of continuing, even worsening, ethnic

inequalities in the rate of permanent exclusion.

Aa a

Appeals panels represent a vital safeguard

against miscarriages of justice; a chance for

parents voices to be heard. Lewis Hamiltons

experience of exclusion provides a tting

example. Hamiltons school career was saved

because his father mounted a meticulous

defence that persuaded an independent appeal

panel to reinstate him.

Every year signicant numbers of

permanent exclusions are overturned in this

way. Hamiltons experience is important in that

it shows the pupils side of the story. Appeals

panels are the last hope for those wrongly

accused who are facing a hugely negativeimpact to their future life chances. And yet

appeals panels are frequently scapegoated

as somehow linked to disruption and

indiscipline in society in general, and schools

in particular. The coalition government has

yet to make any announcement on their future

but pre-election statements cast doubt on their

continued existence. In a 2008 working paper

on behaviour and schools, the Conservative

party stated: We will end the right to appeal

against exclusion to an independent appeals

panel, which undermines headteachers

authority and signals that the school cannotcope with violence.

Prior to the 2010 general election, David

Cameron said: The headteacher should have

absolute discretion over excluding pupils who

are behaving badly. Right now a headteacher

can exclude a child who behaves appallingly

and the appeals panel can put that kid straight

back into school.

In our experience appeals panels think long

and hard before reinstating an excluded pupil,

not least because of the adverse publicity

that can be generated as the result of a bad

decision. Indeed, many parents have reported

a sense of fear and bewilderment when facingsuch panels, often without professional

representation or support. Furthermore,

research suggests that panels rarely reect

the diversity of the pupil population that

they serve. Once again, the exclusions reality

does not support the public image. The most

recent statistics on the impact of exclusions

panels shows that more than 90 per cent of

exclusions were not even taken before anappeals panel. This contradicts the idea that

countless appeals are frivolously entered into.

In total, around 2 per cent of permanent

exclusions were eventually overturned by

appeals panels, and so the system hardly

constitutes a huge disruption to the ow

of exclusions. However, panels are highly

signicant to the people who take their

cases forward in hope of nding justice. In

2007/08 panels found in favour of the parent/

pupil in around a quarter of cases that were

heard. In the last decade for which data are

available, the proportion of appeals that

have found in favour of the parent/pupil hasranged between a high of 37 per cent and a

low of 20 per cent.

Clearly exclusions are by no means a

straightforward issue and panels appear to nd

that a signicant proportion raise causes for

concern. In view of these ndings, any move

to abolish appeals panels would be premature

and, by denying pupils and parents the right

to be heard outside the school, contrary to the

principles of natural justice.

t ff f

Exclusion from school is the most serious

sanction available to headteachers and

permanent exclusion is strongly related to

negative academic and social outcomes.

Pupils who have been permanently excluded

from school are four times more likely to

leave education without qualications and

much more likely to come into contact with

the criminal justice system, according to data

provided by the Cabinet Ofce. Academy

schools currently exclude a much higher

proportion of their pupils than other types of

school, and their rate of exclusion for blackpupils is higher still. As the new government

expands the academy programme, therefore,

there is a very real risk of even higher

rates of exclusion nationally, with all the

associated nancial and social costs this

would involve.However, this is not an inevitable

outcome, as the rate of exclusion is

susceptible to external inuence. Ofcial

targets to reduce exclusion rates in the

1990s made a signicant impact, with black

exclusion rates roughly halved within this

period. It is essential that as academy status

is taken up by increasing numbers of schools,the possible impact on exclusions is taken

seriously and genuine safeguards are put in

place to tackle racial inequality.


12/32


background. The highest gure of the same

research as regards separate television genreswas 18 per cent in relation to those appearing

in soap operas. It is interesting to look at the

detail too. I was not surprised to see that what

is described as Far Eastern in the report were

only represented at 5 per cent, whil the broad

Black category was the biggest at 41 per

cent, followed by South Asian at 32 per cent.

It is early days and robust processes need to

be agreed, but it is encouraging that the whole

industry - public service broadcasters as well

as commercial and some independents - are

now working together far more actively to

identify ways to build up a true picture of

what is happening on screen.Returning to the event, Younge compared

viewing now to when, as a child in the 70s, he

had excitedly called upstairs to announce the

eeting appearance of a black face on screen.

Phillips remarked on the numbers of people

from all backgrounds who were interested

enough in the topic to attend the debate at all.

Given this however, he questioned why there

are still so few black and minority ethnic

(BME) people at the top in the broadcast

and creative media sector. His contention

was that it is the culture of the industry,

which is still underpinned by an innate lackof condence in the abilities and leadership

potential of the other to hold and succeed in

key decision making roles, that still hinders

progress. Abbott, while acknowledging a

degree of progress, asked why it had been

so slow in coming. She cited the habit of

recruiting in ones own image, particularly

in an industry where it is all about who you

know, as being a key factor that continues to

inhibit opportunities for black talent. In the

words of BBC non-executive director Samir

Shah in 2008, the problem is not deliberate

discrimination but something which is far

more insidious: cultural cloning.

A discussion on ways to counter this

phenomenon then focused on the need for

It is the responsibility of public service

broadcasters to reect the complexity ofmodern society. This means reecting the

differences within and between the UKs

communities, nations and regions across all

programming and output. What audiences

see, hear or interact with on screen or on air

is a representation of the world, channelled

through the interpretation and production

choices of the programme makers.

Striving to achieve a fair, sensitive and

nuanced portrayal of cultural difference is

key. Taking care to avoid the stereotypes

of old is crucial if programme makers and

broadcasters are to succeed in this purpose.

Authentic portrayal is something audiences

recognise as soon as they see it; they expect

to see it, and so they should.

t a f aa

For anyone who identies as being from

a particular ethnic or cultural community,

specicity is all-important. Cultural references,

as long as they are accurate and do not appear

gratuitous, will resonate with particular

audiences because they serve to identify

backgrounds, social mores, beliefs and so on.Such cultural signiers, and the distinct and

varied representational contexts within which

they appear, can also add great richness and

creative potential. Choosing subject matter

that has a universal relevance but which can

also appeal in specicity to distinct audience

groups will be all the more resonant for some.

Within drama, storylines must be relevant,

and meaningful and written from a position

of experience and understanding within any

given representational context. Get the stories

right and believable characters are far more

likely to follow.

So, achieving diversity off-screen among

the myriad back-room and behind camera

personnel can have a huge impact on the

ability to accurately reect the diversity of

the UKs many audiences. Couple this withusing people on-screen who look and sound

like modern Britain to present programmes,

deliver news and appear regularly across all

genres in a variety of capacities, and ratings

are likely to increase. Moreover the public

service broadcaster will be truly serving the

UKs diverse audiences.

The real challenge is how to make sure the

whole industry recruits, develops and retains

employees from diverse backgrounds. These

choices are many and powerful. Decisions

about subject matter, casting, contributors,

commentary, storylines, scripts, editing,

music, location, as well as how, when and to

whom output is promoted, all inuence the

reality which is then portrayed. This, in turn,

can shape the views of society in relation to

those groups.

i a ?

With all that in mind, I attended the Royal

Television Society event Diversity in

Broadcasting - is it all white now? in May

2010. It was encouraging to hear Equalities

and Human Rights Commission chairTrevor Phillips, Diane Abbott MP, and Pat

Younge (the BBCs rst black Head of TV

Productions) acknowledge that some progress

had been over the past decade.

It is worth noting that headline ndings

from a report commissioned by Channel 4

for pan broadcast industry body the Cultural

Diversity Network do seem to support this

perception. Top line data that was revealed

to representatives from the independent

broadcasting sector recently show that within

a snapshot analysis of TV content across C4,

BBC1, BBC2, Sky, ITV1 and Five during a

three-week period in September last year

10.2 per cent of the total TV population were

identied as being from an ethnic minority

The BBCs head of diversity Aaa r brings together some ofthe most interesting outcomes of a conference to discuss the mediaindustry and how to improve the diversity within it

Key to diversity in themedia is o-screen


13/32


policies. Marcia Williams, formerly head of

diversity at the UK Film Council, spoke from

the audience about the work that the Broadcast

Training and Equalities Regulator (BETR)

has been doing with the major broadcasters

to develop a performance measurement

framework promoting equal opportunities in

employment. Monitoring employee diversity

- and using that data year on year to assess

progress and identify patterns or trends

which can then be addressed - underpins the

framework. While such data collection is

crucial, it must be used in conjunction with

clear advice and training to ensure everyone

understands how to help open up the industryand provide opportunities for all groups, and

to demonstrate why employing a diverse

workforce matters.

d a

So, why does it matter? Younge and Helen

Veale, of Outline Productions, described

what they saw as the fundamental drivers for

diversity both on and off screen. Veale focused

on the overarching imperative to attract big

audiences. That, she argued, was the rationale

for reecting diverse audiences. In addition to

the moral imperative and the obvious good

business sense of seeking to reect diversity

in output, Younge emphasised the BBCs

clear public service imperative to serve all

licence fee payers and to reect the diversity

of the UK, which is a core public purpose.

The assumption here of course is that

employing a diverse workforce will naturally

contribute to greater diversity on screen.

While I would agree with that in principle,

care should be taken not to assume that

greater diverse representation is an automatic

outcome. A dominant organisational culture

can cause many to leave their difference at the

door and to wear a somewhat different identity

at work. Women are fairly well-represented

across the industry, if less well in more seniorroles, yet a recent snapshot content analysis

revealed men still outnumber women 2:1 on

screen. This gure has remained the same for

a number of years.

All that being said, the industry

undoubtedly values diversity as a bringer of

great talent and as a catalyst for creativity. It

is just the small matter of how to bring it in

and develop it, so that there are more diverse

faces and perspectives around the top tables

and among the key decision makers.

Younge, while acknowledging

improvements in policy and practice around

recruitment, pointed to the whole industry as

still being notoriously difcult to navigate for

any potential new entrant. Just understanding

Photo:BenedictHilliard

the language is the rst hurdle and there is a

broad recognition that the industry functions

through networks. Issues of exclusion for

those from working class backgrounds

were discussed as being a very real obstacle

to achieving greater diversity. The long-

standing convention that media industry work

experience trainees are unpaid means that those

from lower income families are highly unlikely

to get that rst foot in the door and exposure to

all important networks. The panel all conceded

that it is far easier for well-educated, middle

class young people whose parents can afford

to support them, to gain the experience needed

to progress. Thankfully, the major broadcastersare increasingly introducing opportunities for

various paid internship programmes.

The event nished with the panel and

audience asked to reect on the critical

difference between intentions and outcomes.

All those who had bothered to turn up were

likely to have plenty of the former and there is

much good work underway across the sector.

For those working in the industry though, it

is achieving the latter that matters. We must

now ensure the industry successfully brings in

and develops a critical mass of highly skilled,

creative talent from the widest range of social

and cultural backgrounds. This will be pivotal

in shaping and inuencing the future look,

feel and sound of UK media output.

FeAture


14/32


Lone mothers bringing up children from

mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds

have long been subject to negative

judgments about their moral behaviour

and childrearing. Any mother bringing

up a child without a resident man has

been seen as transgressing varioussocial boundaries. But for those women

whose children are from mixed racial

and ethnic backgrounds, it is clear that

such pathologisation is compounded.

However, mixed-race families,including those headed by lone

mothers, have been part of thesocial fabric of the UK for decades.Knowledge about their situation,

however, both now and in the past, isthin on the ground. This is where LoneMothers of Mixed Racial and Ethnic

Children: Then and Now, the researchreport I co-authored with ChamionCaballero, lls in some of the gaps.

aa j a aa

We found that, in both the 1960s and

2000s (the periods from which our

data came), mothers - and particularly

white mothers whose childrens fatherswere from black African or African

Caribbean backgrounds keenly felt

that derogatory assumptions were made

about women who partnered outside of

their own racial or ethnic backgrounds.

These social judgments usually involved

the mothers sense of morality and her

sexual behaviour. In this respect, it

seems that little has changed over the

past half a century.

But the mothers accounts did indicatethat there may have been some shiftsin the way in which such attitudesare expressed socially, especiallyregarding interactions with ocials and

professionals. Though overt forms ofprejudice can still be all too prevalentin the everyday lives of lone mothersof mixed racial and ethnic children, thecontemporary mothers spoke aboutassumptions and racism taking covertand implied, rather than more direct,forms. By contrast, the 1960s lonemothers reported direct and explicitremarks and discriminatory treatment.

ra

A striking distinction between theconcerns of the two sets of lone mothersrelates to changing understandingsof childrens needs over the past halfa century. All the women expressedsimilar worries about their nancial andmaterial situations, but the contemporarymothers also focused on concerns aboutsupporting their childrens emotional well-being in relation to their ethnic identities

as well as being in a lone parent family.These kinds of references to childrensidentity and family structure were almostentirely absent in the discussions of the1960s mothers.

These distinctions may well be connectedto wider social changes. Both in relationto understanding of the relevance of racialand ethnic identities and, secondly, thereframing of contemporary childrearingas a complex set of skills that requireparents to be ever-involved and watchful.

Fa

Assumptions are often made that mixedracial and ethnic children brought upin lone mother families have little if anycontact with their biological fathers. Themothers accounts, both then and now,showed that non-resident fathers couldbe a presence in their childrens livesin variable ways. The level of contactand contributions of fathers dieredas much in the 1960s as they did inthe 2000s. Some were a noticeable,even constant presence, others were incontact intermittently or absent entirely.In this respect, it seems that fathers

ra ea outlines the key ndings of a report on theparticular prejudices faced by lone mothers of mixed-race children.

Then and now


15/32


involvement has not changed over time.

However the social context has shiftedconsiderably. The responsibility that mostof the contemporary mothers expected

their childrens fathers to take is echoedin government policy, which obliges thenon-resident parent to contribute regularnancial support for their children. Suchpolicy obligations are accompaniedby social expectations, which see thepresence of biological fathers as playingan important role in childrens identity anddevelopment. These sorts of obligationsand expectations were not a part of the1960s mothers lives, either on personalor societal levels.

Fa aHostility, rejection and isolation from

their parents and families of origin have

long been thought to be the fate of lone

mothers of mixed racial and ethnic

children. The accounts of both sets of

mothers we looked at for our research

showed a continuation of variability in

experiences of such relationships within

the two time periods. Some have close

and supportive relationships with their

families, others have more strained or

dicult interactions - and not necessarily

due to the fact of having partneredoutside their racial or ethnic group.

A signicant shift, however, is the familyrelationships that contemporary mothersmay now have with their childrensfathers families, particularly if thosefamilies are from ethnic or racial minoritybackgrounds. The majority of thecontemporary mothers had contact withthe fathers family, many on a regularbasis. Again, although the type andquality of this contact varied amongst

families, it appears present in a way thatwas almost completely unknown for lonemothers in the 1960s. This lack of contactis doubtless reective of patterns ofmigration and settlement in Britain amongminority ethnic families at the time, withmen likely to have travelled to Englandalone. The availability of wider minorityethnic kin suggests an additional supportsource for lone mothers of mixed-racechildren in modern Britain.

s

Over the past 40 years or so,

considerable shifts have taken

place in the formal support services

available to lone mothers. There are

now numerous specialist organisations

that provide advice, information and

support. Furthermore, the provision of

resources that help mothers to supporttheir childrens racial or ethnic identity

development, as well as other aspects

of their childrens emotional well-being,

has also been a signicant development

for mothers.

These trajectories of continuity and

change in experiences of attitudes and

support for lone mothers bringing up

mixed-race children in the UK across

40 years reveal both similarities and

dierences, not only between the

1960s and 2000s, but also within eachtime period.

What appears to have remained a

constant over the last half a century,however, is the type of informal supportthat lone mothers of mixed racial andethnic children draw on. In addition

to the roles that the childrens fathersand extended families may play,friendship networks feature strongly inmothers accounts, both then and now.In particular, though their importancecan often be overlooked, friendshipnetworks in which mothers can sharecommon experiences with other womenin the same circumstances appear tobe of great importance to them. Withsuch informal networks often providingsources of invaluable support in motherslives, it may be important to consider theeect of an absence of such networksmay have, particularly in situations whereother resources are limited.

For the full report: http://bit.ly/lonemothers


16/32


citing the importance of risk management as a strategy for

border control. This strategy is reportedly oriented towardsidentifying and screening out risky immigrants and visitors fromdesirable tourists, business visitors and skilled migrants. Newe-borders, involving the biometric data collection of visitors tothe UK are being used to x peoples identities at the earliestpoint practicable. The young coalition government is likely to goa step further, considering their pledge to introduce an annuallimit on the number of non-EU economic migrants allowed towork in the country.

Though issues of border security and control are not to

be minimised, it is important to note that imposing excessive

controls on migration poses its own risks. For example,

excessive control might deter wanted and needed migration.

Meanwhile the contraction of legal entry channels can

cause more desperate migrants to enter the country via illicit

means, thereby fuelling people smuggling and the criminal

organisations associated with it.

ma a

Over the last 20 years, the broader notion of risk has becomecentral to every government policy initiative, from the ecologicalrisk to the terrorist and medical risk. According to contemporarythinker Ulrich Beck we now live in an era of risk or a risk society,which is characterised by a heightened awareness of risk and itschanging nature. He argues, along with supporters of his work,that living in a world risk society makes us both involved andvulnerable to local, national and global risks in our personal andprofessional lives. In his book Risk SocietyBeck notes that, priorto this notion of global risk, hazards assaulted the nose or the

FeAture

ca Aza argues for a newdiscourse on risk analysis asrelated to migration policy

Migration

and risk

Photo:DavidDennis

O

ver the past two decades, EU discourse has served toemphasise the positive role of migration for social andeconomic development and has highlighted the role

of diasporas in the development of migrants countriesof origin. Additionally, national governments have persistedwith the political priority of securing Europes external borderswith an increasingly reactive approach to immigration. Manymigration management measures have intensied, particularlysince 9/11 (with the development of citizenship tests, increase indeportation orders, militarisation of border control and so on); atendency which has been heightened by the current economiccrisis which has left millions in Europe jobless.

Migration management policies that limit entry to skilledmigrants have become increasingly stringent and somewhat

of a policy trend in many European countries. Faced with

conicting dynamics (while the economic logic of liberalism

is one of openness, the political and legal logic is one of

closure, something that James Hollield refers to as the liberalparadox) and in attempts to balance the costs and benets of

immigration, countries have had to re-conceptualise migration

in terms of risk management.

maa

On one hand migration is depicted as an essential adjustmentvariable for the labour market which is couched as a positiverisk, while on the other hand it is often portrayed in terms ofnegative risks (i.e. terrorism, crime, disorder, cultural anxiety,public health, etc). Arguably, stringent migration managementhas resulted in high-risk migration, primarily in the form of

irregular migration, which is currently targeted for attention,

while low risk migration, such as the inux of skilled workers,is channelled through specially designed entry programmes.Recent documentation from the Border and ImmigrationAgency of the Home Oce has mirrored this shift, explicitly

Those leaving theircountry of origin due to alack in opportunities willcontinue to run the risksinvolved in migration


17/32


resources are then pooled with income from migration in orderto meet the needs of families elsewhere.

High-risk migration, typically involving non-documentedmigrants, can include a spectrum of risks with variouscombinations of probability and severity. For example, the

maximum severity risk that of death - may only be of asmall probability. However, economic loss, physical abuse,or other forms of hardship, though less severe than death,could be much more likely. Making this distinction betweenthe various types of risk and their levels of severity can reneanalysis of decision-making processes in high-risk migration.Information about relative risk in these cases becomes oneof numerous factors aecting the decision to migrate, andis often not the most important. Often, risk-taking decisionsare made on the basis of risk perceptions, which are in turninuenced by information about the potential risks involved inthe migration process as well as also personal experience.

For example, evidence on pirogue migration (unauthorised

migration aboard small boats from West Africa to the Canary

Islands) suggests that, in many cases, the migration doesnot result from ignorance about risks, but from the need to

overcome poverty and hardship. A similar point is observed

by U.S border policy analyst, Joseph Nevis, in demonstrating

the US governments use of risk as a tool to discourage

unauthorised crossings. The U.S Border Patrol have

increased the number of agents on each major entry corridor

such as El Paso or San Diego while developing its use of

technology; attempting to raise the risk of apprehension high

enough to be an eective deterrent.

However, there appears to be no

decrease in crossings.

Information campaigns that purportthe assumption that migrants areunaware of the dangers involved in high-risk migration have proved ineective.There is indeed no straightforwardrelationship between risk awarenessand attitudes to dangerous migration.What appear to be the deciding factorfor migrants considering a perilousborder crossing, is how dire the lifeopportunities they are escaping, ratherthan the risk involved in the process.

A a f

Repressive migration management

policies are, therefore, doomed to fail for

as long as the conceptualisation of risk

remains outdated. As long as the main

reason for migrants to leave their country

of origin is the lack of opportunities or

right to make a decent life in their home

country, they will continue to run maximum

severity risks. Treating migration as a

risk needing to be managed has proved

ineective. The debate on migration

and development should focus on

identifying positive synergies between

migration and risk management, rather

than the development of more restrictivemigration control policies.

FeAture

eyes and were thus perceptible to the sense, while the risks ofcivilisation today typically escape perception. One of the mainconcepts of the risk society is that of reexive modernity. Broadlyspeaking, this has several interlinking threads. The rst is thateconomy, governance and culture are now global, and that the

power of the nation-state has diminished. Going alongside thisis an increase in the magnitude and complexity of risks that arenow out of all proportion to any previously encountered, andhave outgrown the regulatory ability of national state-basedlegal systems. The risk society, Beck asserts, is also a societybased on individualisation, that is, traditional social ties arebeing replaced by individualised, choice-based social, politicaland economic institutions. Though this increases freedom, italso increases the risks that individuals are forced to take inareas such as employment and welfare i.e. they may wellstruggle to earn a basic living. Social hierarchies are now basedon risk rather than wealth, and people are more focused on thedistribution of bads, (or the realisation of untoward risks) thanon the production of goods.

Marginalised people, among them migrants, becomevulnerable to an increasing number of risks, while alsocategorised as being risky. Those in need of help potentiallyare more likely to be seen as a threat and potentially furthermarginalised or excluded from the societies in which they live.Migrants, and particularly irregular migrants, are more likelyto be excluded in their host countries by being categorisedas risky. This experience of exclusion then negates full civicmembership of a community, hindering migrants potentialcontribution to wider society.

If states put risks, potential or real,at their heart of their decision makingon migration management, migrantpopulations will bear the consequencesof associating migration with risk. Whilerisk and uncertainty are pervasive in allforms of migration and at all stages of themigration cycle, this uncertainty shouldnot be used to malign migrants and themigration process.

r

It is important to acknowledge thatpeople decide to migrate for a multitudeof reasons: poverty, social upheaval,

political turmoil, economic instability,unstable climates as well as to live andearn outside their country of origin. Manyof the factors that lead to migration, suchas social upheaval, increase a personsvulnerability, but those who migrateoften do so as a risk reduction strategy.In many cases, migration becomes aa necessity in order to earn a living, orto escape or recover from traumaticexperiences. The intention of the migrantis to further reduce risks of violence andeconomic vulnerability.

The American sociologist DouglasMassey argued that for many migrants,migration was a way to capitalise on thehouseholds labour power, as household

Since 1998 more than 4,000

people have died trying

to cross the Mexican-American

border. Annually, more than

600,000 migrants are apprehended

as they attempt to cross the border

to the north without documents

More than 5,900 child

migrants arrived in the

European Union in 2009, compared

with 3,380 in 2008. The UN High

Commission of Refugees (UNHCR)has warned that these children

could be in danger of abuse

Over the last decade, more

than 13,000 bodies have been

recovered in the Mediterranean,

many of them thought to be

migrants attempting to reach Italy

from North Africa.

Around 1.7 million Afghan

refugees and migrants live

in Pakistan, and 933,000 in the

Islamic Republic of Iran

FAct Box


18/32


being elected, 16 Labour and 11 Conservative

Just over 4 per cent of parliament is now

BME, compared to roughly 10-11 per cent

BME in the total population; the 2001 Census

counted 8% BME people, while the 2007

estimate for England was 11.3 per cent and,

given existing trends, the 2011 Census is

likely to estimate a UK BME population at11 to 12 per cent

The Scotland, Wales and London

Assemblies all have mixed voting systems,

with the majority decided by FPTP, and

between 33 and 44 per cent of their members

chosen by proportional lists. Scotland and

Wales have very small BME populations, but

each assembly has returned one BME member

through their list system. The Scottish MSP,

Bashir Ahmed, has since died, while the Welsh

AM, Mohammad Asghar, defected from Plaid

Cymru to the Conservative party.

In London, the four BME assembly

members (16 per cent) represent roughly halfthe proportion of Londons BME population

(35 per cent or more), and only one of the four

was elected via the list. While proportional

systems seem to provide greater representation

of BME people, so far this has provided a quite

modest effect. Indeed, when Scotland moved to

a single transferable voting (STV) system for

local elections in 2007, there was no increase

in the number of BME councillors.

The European Parliament election

further explains the role that proportional

representation (PR) might be able to play in

increasing the number of disadvantaged groupson UK representative bodies. There is a slightly

higher number of BME MEPs from the UK (5.7

per cent) than there is in the House of Commons

(4.1 per cent), but there are three caveats.

First is that there are fewer MEPs,

meaning that each MEP contributes more to

proportionality (or indeed disproportionality).

Second is that the number of overall MEPs

from all European countries is very low indeed

(1.1%). Third is that the House of Lords - a

chamber that is currently wholly appointed - has

a roughly similar share of BME members (5.2

per cent), as does the UK delegation in Brussels,

and more than in the House of Commons.What conclusions can we draw from this

admittedly brief study of BME representation

The question of what makes a voting

system proportional is difcult and

contentious, so it is important to

focus on the question of how different

systems may impact black and minority ethnic

(BME) representation in the UK.

According to Nick Clegg in his rst speech

as deputy prime minister, more proportionalsystems provide better representation for

under-represented groups. But the evidence

(internationally and in the UK) on this point

is more complicated, especially for the AV

(alternative vote) system on which the coalition

government has agreed to hold a referendum.

Most European countries have various

kinds of proportional voting systems. Only

one country - the Netherlands - does as well or

better than the UK in terms of the representation

of black and minority ethnic people.

The Netherlands has a party list system and

8 per cent of Dutch MPs are BME (compared

to roughly 11 per cent of the population).

Conversely, France, which has a non-

proportional voting system, has only 2 BME

MPs out of 555, or 0.4 per cent compared to an

overall BME population of 12.6 per cent.

But countries with more proportional voting

systems do not always deliver more BME

representatives. For example, in Germany

(where exactly half of all candidates are selected

on a mixed member proportional system) only

1.3 per cent of representatives are from a black

and minority ethnic background, compared to

almost 5 per cent of the population.

For whatever reason, BME candidates arenot selected for their parties lists in Germany,

and indeed elsewhere in Europe. It is of course

also likely that different political cultures,

citizenship law, and responses to ethnic

diversity are likely to affect representation

whatever the electoral system.

It is not always appreciated that the UK has

a number of different electoral systems in its

various representative bodies. The key point is

that the sorts of proportional systems we have

in the UK do not tend to result in a signicant

increase in the number of BME representatives.

Westminster elections are decided by

perhaps the most inuential example of rst

past the post (FPTP). In the 2010 UK General

Election, this system resulted in 27 BME MPs

and electoral systems? First, that the choice of

system does indeed have some effect, but the

effect derives from more pure proportional

systems, such as single transferable vote (with

more than one representative per constituency)

or party lists. Other considerations include how

constituency boundaries are drawn, and the

dispersal of a given population.Second, however, is that party leadership

and commitment to ethnic representation is as

important as the proportionality of a system in

increasing the numbers of under-represented

groups.

In the Netherlands, for example, the

popularity of anti-immigrant parties led leaders

to place black and minority ethnic candidates in

a high position on their lists, thereby ensuring

they would get voted in. If, however, party

leaders do not select BME candidates for their

list, then such candidates are no more likely to

get voted in than they are under FPTP.

This last point is worth reecting on in the UKcontext. In recent Westminster elections, both

the Labour Party and the Conservative Party

have been able to improve the representation

of women and BME people through measures

adopted by the party leadership, namely all-

women shortlists and the A-list. Whatever

the merits of these policies, they have been

successful in increasing representation, even in

a FPTP electoral system.

And, of course, the unelected House of Lords

is still more representative than the Commons,

indicating that party leaderships could perhaps

deliver even better results. We should therefore be cautious in agreeing with Nick Cleggs

claim that PR will increase the representation

of disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

It is worth bearing in mind that the Liberal

Democrats currently have no BME MPs, and

have only a very small number of women MPs.

Given that the coalition agreement explicitly

states that our future referendum will be on

the alternative vote only, which is not strictly

speaking a proportional system at all, there is no

reason to believe that this reform will increase

the number of women or BME MPs. Without

wider changes in political party leadership,

membership and procedures, electoral reformwill not result in our representatives being any

more proportionate.

oa ka takes us through alternative voting systems. With anexample for each available for scrutiny, it is possible to draw someconclusions as to whether a change in voting system would equal a

How representative wouldproportional represenation be?


19/32


just about getting black and brown faces into

the club, but also recognising that the hopes of

BME communities rested on their shoulders.

And if they were serious about tackling racism

and disadvantage they could not do it alone;

they needed to organise. Grant was saying, in

effect, that we still have a long way to go.

Today we seem to have come full circle

with talk of a UK version of the Congressional

Black Caucus. But most of the new intake is

likely to shun black self-organisation, just as

Boateng did 23 years earlier.

Fooled into believing that the patronageof their partys elite and their own talents are

enough to guarantee them success, I predict

that BME MPs will overlook the achievements

that African-American politicians have made

courtesy of the Congressional Black Caucus,

favouring instead the mainstreaming

approach that is fashionable now.

But mainstreaming needs to be judged

by results. Has mainstreaming equality in

the workplace worked, when the already

disproportionate levels of BME unemployment

have rocketed during this recession? Has it

worked in the police, where racial bias in stop

and search has also increased inexorably over

past years? I think not.

Race, gender and religion do have an

impact on politics where there is a critical

mass of candidates from a particular

community to affect change. Labour

introduced all-women shortlists in the 1997

election, resulting in more than 100 new

women MPs, which gave parliament a critical

mass of women. This was used effectively by

Harriet Harman to introduce new measures

on childcare, maternity leave, domestic and

sexual violence and forced marriages. In this

case, representation led to results.How different might life have been for

BME communities today had Grant been

successful in creating a caucus? Sadly, a lack

In the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Weve come a long way; we still have a

long, long way to go. This was a comment

taking stock of gains made in the civil

rights movement. Yet the sentiment equally

applies well when reecting on the increased

numbers of black and minority ethnic MPs at

the 2010 general election.

Since the 1987 breakthrough, when Diane

Abbott, Keith Vaz, Paul Boateng and the late

Bernie Grant made it to parliament, progress

has been painfully slow. Until this year. On 6

May 2010 BME MPs almost doubled, up from15 to 27, while the number of Asian women

rose from zero to six.

The recent gains are impressive on the face

of it, yet put the gures in context and they tell

a different story altogether. Collectively the

BME MPs only represent four per cent of the

House of Commons. This is well short of the

respective gure for the BME population in

Britain, which is now estimated to be between

13 and 15 per cent.

Labours acting leader Harriet Harman

said in 2007 that Britain needed four times

more BME representatives in Westminster

in order to reect the society government

serves. Yet progress remains slow according

to new gures from the Ofce of National

Statistics, we still need three and a half times

more MPs of colour.

I remember feeling

Documents

Summer First Edition