News

Once again Marvin Rees is on the threshold of making history, having won the nomination to stand as the Labour Party mayoral candidate in Bristol next year. If he wins he’ll become the first directly elected African/Caribbean mayor of a major city in Europe. On the same day Sadiq Khan or Syed Kamall could also become London’s mayor.

For Marvin Rees, this is a true story of tenacity, inner strength and determination to win against the odds. Many would argue that this indeed is the Black experience in the UK.

Congratulations to Diane Abbott MP and Seema Malhotra MP, both appointed to Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

Abbott has been given the role of Shadow Minister for International Development, and Malhotra , Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Both were recently been under the spotlight at hustings organised by OBV. Abbott took part in the Labour London Mayor candidates’ hustings in July in Brixton whilst Malhotra was a very impressive deputy for Yvette Cooper at the Labour Leadership hustings held in Canary Wharf a week later.

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan has been selected as Labour's candidate for the London mayoral election, the party has announced. And with this victory, the prospect of London – one of the world’s most influential and powerful cities – having a BME mayor.

Sadiq won 48,152 votes, a 58.9% share, in the fifth round of voting after the other candidates had been eliminated.

The former Justice Secretary is likely to oppose Tory front runner Zac Goldsmith in the 2016 London mayoral elections - with recent polls suggesting he could beat Goldsmith.

Since Ed Milliband’s resignation only a few hours after the crushing Labour defeat on 8 May, the party has been very ably led by Harriet Harman, but the leadership contest hasn’t been its finest hour, revealing deep splits and an ominous lack of common purpose or vision. It’s been interesting to see how Jeremy Corbyn quickly moved from rank outsider to the favourite, though until the announcement on Saturday, nothing is certain.

In some areas of London the rise in attacks and abuse towards Muslims has risen by 260%. Overall the figures across the capital have seen an increase in Islamaphobic offences increase from 478 to 816, a rise of 70% in the last year. Almost two thirds of the victims were women who were wearing either a headscarf or hijab.

One victim told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that the abuse and hatred was so bad in her area of South London that she was forced to move home:

Something changed in the UK yesterday and the catalyst of that change was simple picture of a Syrian baby lying dead on a desolate Turkish beach. The picture resonated across the world and for the first time in a long time pricked the conscious of people of Britain.

There have been many pictures of the dead and dying desperate refugees seeking to escape the horror of wars and famine brought on, in large part by the disastrous military intervention of the west,

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/sep/03/will-the-image-of-a-lifeless-boy-on-a-beach-change-the-refugee-debate

We have been overwhelmed by the support for our race at work survey. The positive reception from employers, employees, senior leaders. In particular we are encouraged by how BME communities and NGO’s such as OBV and Runnymede Trust have sought to support us and help ensure as many people engage as possible.