Tory Duwayne is proof Labour has much work to do
THE one thing I didn’t expect there would be during my chat with Duwayne Brooks last week was a debate.
But I just had to get into why, after all he has been through, he wants to stand as a Conservative candidate for London Mayor.
Thirty years ago last weekend, Duwayne was with Stephen Lawrence when he was murdered by racists in Eltham, South East London.
Both were just 18.
You’ll know the heartbreaking, infuriating story. Police bullied and harassed him in an unsuccessful bid to undermine his revelation of their conduct.
Since – and before – then you’ll have read and seen the many other ways in which police have violated Black people’s rights in this country.
Also the ways in which the Conservatives have made life as difficult as possible for us: the Windrush scandal, the hostile environment, the empowerment and appeasement of those rejecting anti-racism by former Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-PM Boris Johnson. And don’t get me started on Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
But even before my back and forth with Duwayne last week, I’d been wondering: where are Labour’s Black male candidates for the next general election?
Where are the individuals capable of empathising with the issues Duwayne and millions of men and boys like him experience in their daily lives?
Where are the potential ministers to address knife crime, fight for more Black teachers, champion our successes, highlight the failures of Pupil Referral Units across the country, examine youth unemployment and highlight health inequalities? David Lammy, the shadow Foreign Secretary, has of course carried himself with distinction for some time now. But he is just one man. The only Black man in Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet. Where are the others?
Almost 36 years after Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott and Paul Boateng became Britain’s first Black MPs, representation in Westminster has increased across the board.
Of the 65 ethnic minority MPs, 41 are Labour, 22 are Tories and two are Lib Dem. But those numbers mask Labour’s problem.
Female Black representation hasn’t been an issue for some time now. Dawn Butler, Florence Eshalomi and Bell Ribeiro-Addy and others have used their voices to impressive effect.
Taiwo Owatemi’s powerful plea to extend free school meals throughout the holidays went viral.
But six years ago several prominent Black male Labour supporters wrote to its national governing body, “perplexed and disheartened” to have been snubbed for selection to fight the 2017 snap election. Where’s the progress since?
And while Diane Abbott is experienced enough to know and appreciate why her weekend letter to The Observer is under scrutiny, Labour’s record on Black men – and women – should be too.
Why is it that Tory high command boasts a warped “diversity” within which people like Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng, Sajid Javid and others have acted as fig leaves for their racist policies yet Labour remain unable to provide an antidote?
Starmer’s Opposition is in danger of taking Black Britain for granted, believing the Tories’ ineptitude has left them as a shoo-in at the next election. If someone who has suffered as much as Duwayne can see a potential home with the Tories, Labour have more – much more – work to do than they think.
Why the appeal when they have made life so hard for us?