Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

UK should shift its focus away from ‘white guilt’: Tony Sewell

The race report author says it's not right to see everything through the race lens alone

UK should shift its focus away from ‘white guilt’: Tony Sewell

EDUCATION consultant Tony Sewell said the UK should shift its focus from unconscious bias to other factors which cause disparities.

Sewell, who headed the government-appointed Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, said racism remained a problem in Britain but addressing other factors such as class, geography and family structure could go a long way in tackling inequalities.

He had authored the commission’s 2021 report which controversially stated that the UK was not institutionally racist.

Coming against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter protests, his report had drawn condemnation from equality campaigners.

At the time, he justified his report - which the government accepted in entirety - arguing that most ethnic minorities educationally fared better than the white working class.

However, multiple reports published since then have concluded that some organisations including the Metropolitan Police are institutionally racist.

He told The Times that the country should not be driven by “white guilt” and it was not right to “see everything through the race lens alone”.

Sewell, whose parents came to the UK from Jamaica, said “white guilt” could be seen in institutions, demonstrated by their “overreach, completely irrational responses, not considering the context and the complexities of issues”.

“The critical problem is, are we going to be driven by facts and data or are we going to be driven by sentiment, guilt and lobby groups?” he told the newspaper.

According to him, most social justice issues around disparities are complex because of “multiple reasons” and “you’ve got to have the courage to unravel them” and find out where the problems are rooted.

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, a cruise ship which brought a group of West Indian migrants to the UK in 1948, he said the UK evolved over the years and he felt "better" now.

He said both Britain and the migrants contributed to the positive change.

“The Windrush arrivals were the first of a series of waves of migrants who have themselves been changed by Britain, but who also changed Britain — and are going to change it even more”, the founder of the educational charity Generating Genius said.

More For You

Child abuse inquiry: Former prosecutor dismisses Musk's demands

Nazir Afzal

Child abuse inquiry: Former prosecutor dismisses Musk's demands


A FORMER chief prosecutor has pushed back against calls from Elon Musk and Conservative politicians for a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Britain.

Nazir Afzal, who successfully prosecuted the Rochdale child sexual abusers, pointed out that previous extensive inquiries were largely ignored by the Tory government.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump demands UK scrap wind power, revive North Sea oil

US president-elect Donald Trump (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Trump demands UK scrap wind power, revive North Sea oil

US president-elect Donald Trump has criticised the British government's energy policy with a demand the country "open up" the ageing North Sea oil and gas basin and get rid of wind farms.

The North Sea is one of the world's oldest offshore oil and gas basins where production has steadily declined since the start of the millennium. At the same time, it has become one of the world's largest offshore wind regions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Postmaster Hemandra Hindocha receives royal recognition

Hemandra Hindocha

Postmaster Hemandra Hindocha receives royal recognition

WESTCOTES postmaster, Hemandra Hindocha, has been recognised by the King for services to his Leicester community and other postmasters.

Better known as “H” by customers, he has been at the heart of his Westcotes community for nearly 38 years after initially starting his postmaster career in Northampton, for five years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wes Streeting: Musk's intervention in UK politics 'misinformed'

Wes Streeting arrives to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street on December 3, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Wes Streeting: Musk's intervention in UK politics 'misinformed'

A senior minister has criticised Elon Musk's latest intervention in the country's politics as "misjudged and certainly misinformed".

The tech billionaire accused prime minister Keir Starmer a day earlier of failing to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he was director of public prosecutions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Vice-chancellors at top universities spent £1m on foreign trips

Vice-chancellors at the 24 Russell Group universities have claimed significant amounts for trips abroad, luxury hotels, and even home renovations. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Vice-chancellors at top universities spent £1m on foreign trips

LEADERS at some of the UK's most prestigious universities have spent close to £1 million on international travel over the past three years, despite ongoing warnings about financial challenges within the higher education sector.

An analysis by The Times revealed that vice-chancellors at the 24 Russell Group universities, representing the country’s most renowned universities, have claimed significant amounts for trips abroad, luxury hotels, and even home renovations.

Keep ReadingShow less