The Home Affairs Committee has confirmed its intention to
complete its predecessors’ work on The Macpherson Report: twenty
years on, and will take new evidence on policing and race
including on concerns raised about the policing of the Covid-19
lockdown and reported disproportionality in fines and
investigations of individuals from BME communities.
The Metropolitan Police Service on 3 June released data on
Covid-related enforcement indicating that “when compared with the
composition of the resident population, higher proportions of
those in Black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups were issued with
FPNs [fixed penalty notices] or arrested across London as a
whole.” Research by Liberty Investigates into police use of FPNs
across England and Wales raised questions about their use more
widely. Concerns have also been expressed that police stop and
search powers continue to be applied disproportionately against
individuals from BME communities.
As people across the UK and across the world have been shocked by
the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, there has also rightly
been a spotlight shone on racism and injustice across the world.
As the Committee looks to complete this inquiry it would welcome
new submissions on recent developments including on:
Changes in police powers and practice (prevention and/or
investigation) since the Committee last took evidence in July
2019, including but not limited to stop and search; and
The impact of such changes and of the lockdown on
police/community relations, particularly in relation to BME
communities.
Submissions should be made online here by Monday 15 June. Details
of oral evidence will be announced shortly.
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, said:
““The murder of George Floyd in Minnesota and the subsequent
outpouring of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement
across the world has rightly shone a bright spotlight on racial
inequality and injustice everywhere. All of us have a
responsibility to identify and tackle racism and injustice
wherever we find it.
“The Committee is continuing its inquiry started in the last
Parliament into race and policing two decades on from the
Macpherson Report on the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, as we
continue to assess the Government’s and police’s response to the
Macpherson Report and what more needs to be done.
“As many people have responded to the murder of George Floyd in
the US with calls for stronger action against racism and
injustice everywhere, we would welcome further evidence and
contributions to our ongoing inquiry.
“We will be taking evidence on the troubling reports that BME
communities have been more frequently penalised under Covid-19
lockdown rules. We have sought information on Covid-19
enforcement by ethnicity force by force and will be holding
evidence on this soon. We welcome further submissions to our
inquiry”.
Inquiry
Information:
The
Macpherson Report: twenty-one years on
Committee
Membership is as follows:
Rt Hon MP (Chair, Labour, Normanton,
Pontefract & Castleford)
Diane Abbott MP
(Labour, Hackney North and Stoke
Newington)
Dehenna Davison
MP (Conservative, Bishop Auckland)
(Conservative,
Rushcliffe)
(Conservative,
Newbury)
(Conservative, Barrow and
Furness)
(Labour, Denton and
Reddish)
(Conservative, Gravesham)
MP (Labour, Kingston upon
Hull North)
(Conservative, East
Worthing and Shoreham)
(Scottish National
Party, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch
East)
