A mural to George Floyd in Minneapolis [Photo: Lorie Shaull]

• IN the UK, people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than those of a white ethnicity.

They are also three times more likely to be arrested, and twice as likely to die in police custody. BAME people are over-represented in prisons, overcrowded housing and low-paid jobs. Sadly the list of racial inequalities goes on.

We have all been shocked and appalled by the police brutality we’ve seen in the US, both in the killing of George Floyd and the violent suppression of largely peaceful protests that has followed.

But, as these worrying statistics show, racism is still a serious problem in our own country. It is incumbent on all of us to do what we can to call out racial discrimination and put pressure on our government to do the same.

It is extremely disappointing that our prime minister has not called out president Donald Trump’s disgraceful response to the protests.

Ramping up inflammatory rhetoric and threatening an escalation of violence is no way to deal with an outpouring of grief and anger about the killing of another black person by police in America.

I have called on our government to stop supplying Trump with the arms and equipment he is threatening to use on his own people to suppress legitimate protest.

The PM has said that “black lives matter”, but true solidarity is about using power and privilege to call out racism and doing everything you can to tackle it. He has failed both tests.

His government has also failed to do enough to protect BAME people from the disproportionate impact of Covid-19.

This is an issue I raised in parliament last week, calling for a proper plan to tackle the racial inequalities that are driving higher death rates in BAME communities..

TULIP SIDDIQ MP
Labour, Hampstead & Kilburn