Don’t snore through unconscious bias

We wish to express our deep concerns about the comments made by Cllrs Maureen Hunt (Con, Hurley and the Walthams) and Leo Walters (Con, Bray) in last week’s Full Council, during a debate about tackling institutional racism and discrimination in our borough.

Cllr Ross McWilliams worked with Cllrs Wisdom Da Costa, Amy Tisi and Stuart Carroll to present a cross-party motion recognising the need for councillors and officers to attend suitable training, such as unconscious bias training to help ensure unbiased decisions, for the council to be a beacon on issues of race and gender equality practices, and for us to at last celebrate the achievements of people of colour in RBWM.

Cllr Hunt immediately dismissed the effectiveness of unconscious bias training, saying that we should not blame somebody for something they do unconsciously, and comparing it to snoring.

She went on to describe talk about our countr y’s colonial past, saying that ‘Britain was great, it had a great empire, no question about that. We brought a lot, a lot, to other countries and our colonies,’ conveniently skirting over the death, destruction, rape, torture, conflict and famine that we brought to nations of the empire.

She described our record on slavery as ‘unfor tunate’, saying it’s far more important to learn about slavery that’s happening now.

Cllr Walters described the motion as unnecessary, and went on to talk about his experiences in the British army during the ‘twilight’ of the British Empire, implying that the local tribesmen could only be kept in order by the presence of British troops.

Again, there was no reference to the contribution of the British to tensions in the area.

He then said we should celebrate the achievements of all people — entirely missing the point that achievements of people of colour are grossly unrepresented, while those of white people are not.

Next, he talked about vexatious claims, describing ‘black women… coloured women’ who worked for a friend of his claiming racism when he dismissed them.

He didn’t use the words ‘playing the race card’, but it’s clear that’s what he meant.

It seems from the voting that the Conservative group were allowed a free vote on this incredibly important matter but we have to ask why, when it’s clear that every other vote since May 2019 has either been whipped or closely controlled.

We’re delighted, however, that the motion has passed, and we look forward to continuing to work cross-party to promote equality and inclusion in our borough.

And we’d respectfully suggest that Cllrs Hunt and Walters should be the first to benefit from the training on offer.

Cllrs JOHN BALDWIN (Lib Dem, Belmont), CLIVE BASKERVILLE (Lib Dem, Pinkneys Green), SIMON BOND (Lib Dem, Belmont), MANDY BRAR (Lib Dem, Bisham and Cookham), CAROLE DA COSTA (WWRA, Clewer and Dedworth East), WISDOM DA COSTA (WWRA, Clewer and Dedworth West), KAREN

DAVIES (Lib Dem, Clewer East), CATHERINE DEL CAMPO (Lib Dem, Furze

Platt), JOSHUA REYNOLDS (Lib Dem, Furze Platt), GURCH SINGH (Lib Dem, St

Mar y’s), AMY TISI (Lib Dem, Clewer East), SIMON WERNER (Lib Dem,

Pinkneys Green)