Race adviser complains over MP’s KKK slur
THE authors of a controversial report into racism last night demanded a parliamentary probe into an MP who appeared to compare them to the Ku Klux Klan.
Race Last and month Ethnic the Disparities Commission said on it found no evidence of ‘institutional racism’ and criticised the way the term was applied, saying it should not be used as a ‘catch-all’ phrase for any micro-aggression.
Labour MP Clive Lewis reacted to the report by tweeting a photo of a KKK member in front of a burning cross with the caption: ‘Move along. Nothing to see here #RaceReport.’
Last night the commission’s chairman, Dr Tony sewell, wrote to the parliamentary commissioner for standards calling the post ‘malicious’ and claimed it contributed to online racial abuse against members of the board.
The complaint came as United Nations human rights experts accused the authors of the review of attempting to ‘normalise white supremacy’.
The UN working group of experts on people of African descent said it ‘ categorically rejects and condemns’ the findings of the report, and demanded that the British government dismisses it. The government- commissioned review said racism is a ‘real force’ but added that Britain is no longer a country where the ‘system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities’.
Mr Lewis said he was not attempting to compare the authors to the KKK with his tweet. The Norwich south MP tweeted afterwards: ‘To be crystal clear this image represents structural racism. Just so we’re
clear.’ But in his letter to standards commissioner Kathryn stone, Dr sewell said: ‘This disturbing and distasteful post was extremely offensive to all of us on the commission.
‘It was a shocking and wholly reprehensible reaction to our report, which puts forward an evidence-based argument for causes and drivers of some of the disparities that exist for people from all races and ethnicities in the UK.’
Dr sewell said the follow-up comment by Mr Lewis was a ‘feeble attempt to cover up the malicious intent behind his first post’.
‘Noting the number of followers Mr Lewis has on his Twitter account, we consider it contributed to the unacceptable flow of online racial abuse that commission members experienced following publication,’ he said.
‘As a parliamentarian Mr Lewis is expected to behave responsibly... in our view he has clearly failed to do so here.’
Dr sewell said the commission wants an apology from Mr Lewis and that his tweet be taken down. Mr Lewis did not respond to requests for comment last night, but earlier this month he rejected criticisms of his tweet.
‘The commission and the Government need a laser-like focus on rectifying this huge setback of a report,’ he said. ‘Instead they’re playing the victim and looking to distract.’
Meanwhile, the UN experts called for the commission to be ‘disbanded or reconstituted’.
The working group said the report ‘repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact’ and ‘cites dubious evidence to make claims that rationalise white supremacy by using the familiar arguments that have always justified racial hierarchy’.