Vintage Vaz and Dynamic Abbott slam Govt over Race Equality plans

The two MPs gave impassioned speeches that both inspired Black people up and down the country and discredited the government for not taking seriously the communities concerns that the new body has no guarantee of Black representation and no race focus.

It was the last chance to debate the issue before the CRE is abolished and replaced with this new body that merges all the equality strands. During a heated debate Keith Vaz MP lambasted his own Government stating: Britain's Black communities felt let down by the government. I think that we have failed in terms of the equality agenda after eight years. I expected more from our Government than we have given. We need to do more. We need more than good speeches about more black people here and more Asian people there. We must have bodies that will be able to allow the communities to be able to represent themselves. I am sorry that that is not happening. That is lamentable. Arguing the case for Black representation and a race committee Diane Abbott MP argued: 'He (Keith Vaz) and I were first selected as prospective parliamentary candidates, together with Bernie Grant and Paul Boateng. We were not selected because of our good looks and charisma, at random or as an act of patronage by our leadership. We were selected on the back of a feeling in society that had arisen because of the riots in London, Bristol and Liverpool in the early 1980s that it was high time that, towards the end of the 20th century, this House of Commons started to look like the people of Britain. If the case for representation was important 20 years ago, it is, if anything, more important today'.

A wooden response from the Minister Meg Munn kept to the Government's script with an air of acute embarrassment.

Simon Woolly Director of OBV stated: If you want to become a Black politician, read and be inspired by how Vaz and Abbott defend the interest of the Black community. You will also see the scant regard the Government and opposition MP's have for effectively delivering on race equality issues. The call now for a crisis race summit to serve notice on the Government is right. Tanuka Loha: The 1990 Trust Director stated: We believe that the government has yet again failed to listen to the unprecedented concern of Black communities and Black MPs on this issue. The refusal for a statutory race committee is utterly unacceptable to us, and speaks volumes about their desire to bump race equality to the bottom of the agenda. Notes to the editors 1. Operation Black Vote is a non-party political campaign. 2. The term 'Black' is a political term. It refers to African, Asian, Caribbean and other ethnic minorities.