Wimbledon or Westminster it is all politics

At the French Open the partisan crowd jeered and booed Serena Williams when she contested any points whilst playing her white opponent Justine Henin-Hardenne. Whereas one can accept the support for the underdog (Henin-Hardenne) but the booing of Williams constituted something quite different: good old fashion racism.

So was Wimbledon any different? Well, yes and no. Racism in France is not subtle. Different ethnic communities live apart, hardly mix, and whether you were born in France or not, if you are Black you'll probably be referred to as an immigrant.

Here we have slightly moved on. The metropolitan cities are diverse, and integration is good, if not brilliant. Our main deficit is the fact that we have little or no economic or political power. But having watched Wimbledon for the first week it was clear to me that although there was never any hostility towards the handful of Black players neither was there much warmth, underdog or not.

Watching the Williams sisters power their way through to the final filled me with pride but also disappointment, as match after match the Wimbledon spectators seemed forced by protocol to applaud their success - rather than any desire to cheer on the most complete female tennis players the world has ever seen.

But it wasn't just the Williams dominance that could be attributed to the antipathy towards Black players. When a dreadlocked Moroccan played Wimbledon's favourite son, Andre Agassi, he played the game of his life. Not only did he play sublime tennis, but he also tried to endear himself to the crowd by applauding Aggasi's shots, or by showing human frailty and emotion that has rarely been seen on Centre Court, since the days of Conners and McEnroe. In spite of his efforts Moroccan, Younes El Aynaoui got nowhere. It was a similar story with the young Black American Chanda Rubin.

The subtlety of British racism does not allow the untrained eye to recognise anything untoward, unless that is you are Black. When we see it we are rightly angered by it and conclude that tennis is not the type of sport you'd encourage your son or daughter to do. I mean why would you want to put them through that.

Right, now I've finished with my Wimbledon ranting on to the real business of politics. Brent East: The Brent East parliamentary seat has come available because of the untimely death of the Labour MP Paul Daisley. This is an ideal opportunity for the Labour party to ensure it fulfils its commitment for more BME politicians.

Given the fact that the Labour party want to drive through many more all women shortlists - which in the past has meant an all white women shortlists - the party must take advantage of any by-election (by-elections are not subject to all-women shortlists) to ensure Black MPs can come through. Will they? Left to their own devices no.

We at OBV have written to the Party's governing body the NEC urging them to take this opportunity. I urge the Black public to do so too. The public, like us, should also ask the other parties where their Black candidates are. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, unless we have greater political representation, multiculturalism will only mean chicken tikka masala and the Notting Hill carnival, and not a diverse, fair and just society for all.