UN group ‘misrepresented’ race report findings says UK

A UN group has "misrepresented" the findings of a report into racial disparities after it claimed it attempts to "normalise white supremacy", the UK government has said.

The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent said it "categorically rejectsandcondemns"thefindingsofthecommissiononrace and Ethnic Disparities (Cred).

The group said the report "cites dubious evidence", adding: "This attempt to normalise white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism is an unfortunate sidestepping of theopportunitytoacknowledge theatrocitiesofthepastandthe contributions of all in order to move forward."

It has urged the Government to reject the findings and called for the Commission to be "disbanded or reconstituted".

Spokesmen for Downing Street and Cred both rejected the criticism and said the findings of the report, commissioned in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, had been misrepresented.

In a statement released by the Cabinetoffice,thecredspokesman

said: "We are disappointed that the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has grossly misrepresentedthereport'sfindings,and appearstobearesponsetonegativepresscoverageratherthan the substance of its content.

"The misleading claims they have made risk fostering divisiononthesubjectofrace,rather than constructive discussion on the issues."

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Our view is that this report misrepresents the findings.

"We remain proud of the UK'S long history as a human rights champion and we encourage everyone to read the original report in full."

In response to the claim that the Cred report attempts to "normalise white supremacy", the No 10 spokesman said: "Absolutely not.

"This report in no way condones racist behaviour and in factithighlightsthatracismand inequalityarestillproblemsfor our country."

The Government-commissioned Cred report said racism is a "real force", but that Britain is no longer a country where the "system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities".