Racism in Cricket The following Answer to an Urgent Question was
given the House of Commons on Tuesday 9 November. “I will start by
being very clear about something on which I know the whole House
will agree: there is no place for racism in sport. Indeed, there is
no place for racism anywhere in society. It must be confronted, it
must be eradicated and it should never be written off as just
‘banter’. The Government are extremely concerned by the reports
of...Request free trial
Racism in
Cricket
The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given the House of
Commons on Tuesday 9 November.
“I will start by being very clear about something on which I know
the whole House will agree: there is no place for racism in
sport. Indeed, there is no place for racism anywhere in society.
It must be confronted, it must be eradicated and it should never
be written off as just ‘banter’.
The Government are extremely concerned by the reports of racism
at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Quite simply, the situation
faced by Azeem Rafiq was unacceptable. It should never have been
allowed to happen in the first place and it should have been
dealt with properly during the initial investigation. We have
made it clear to the England and Wales Cricket Board that this
requires a full, transparent investigation, both of the incidents
involving Azeem Rafiq and of the wider cultural issues at
Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The ECB is now investigating the
matter fully. It took action against the Yorkshire club on
Friday, stripping it of the right to host international matches,
and has suspended a player.
There have been a number of resignations from the Yorkshire
board—quite rightly—including that of its chairman. of Bradford has taken over as
chairman and has set out the approach that he will be taking to
tackle the issue at Yorkshire. Crucially, he has started by
apologising to Azeem Rafiq, but we know that that will not undo
the pain that Azeem feels. More action is needed and we have
called on and the ECB to investigate
fully, to eradicate racism where it exists and to tackle the
culture that can support it. In addition, the ECB is now
undertaking a regulatory process. It must take strong action
where it is necessary and that action must be transparent and
swift, for the benefit of cricket.
The ECB has also launched the Independent Commission for Equity
in Cricket to look at wider issues that go beyond Yorkshire. It
is chaired by Cindy Butts, a highly respected anti-racism
campaigner. She is a board member of the Kick It Out campaign in
football and is also, as you know, Mr Speaker, a lay member of
your Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards
Authority. I have great confidence in her independence and her
phenomenal track record in this area. This terrible case—the
awful case of the abuse that Azeem Rafiq should never have
suffered but did suffer—shows how much more needs to be done to
stamp out racism in the game, and I urge anyone who has
experienced discrimination in cricket to approach Cindy Butts’s
commission and report what they have experienced. I understand
that the Equality and Human Rights Commission has requested
information about this incident. That is quite right, and I
encourage the EHRC in its work.
Sport should be for everyone and it should not take cases such as
this to bring that to life. The Government applaud Azeem Rafiq’s
courage in speaking out and encourage anyone who has been
similarly affected to do the same. This must be a watershed
moment for cricket. The Government will closely scrutinise the
actions taken by the ECB—the Minister for Sport met the board
last week to discuss this topic—and by Yorkshire County Cricket
Club in response to these damning allegations. The investigations
to which I have referred must be thorough, transparent and
public. That is necessary to restore the public’s faith in
cricket in Yorkshire and beyond. Parliament is watching, the
Government are watching and the country is watching. We expect
real action and the Government stand ready to step in and act if
those involved do not put their own house in order.”
14:01:00
(Lab)
My Lords, I welcome the appointment and early actions of the
noble Lord, of Bradford. He surely has shown
more leadership in a few short days than we have seen from the
entire Yorkshire County Cricket Club over many years.
I would also like to place on the record our sympathy and respect
for Azeem Rafiq: sympathy, because nobody should suffer the
racist abuse in the workplace that he has suffered; respect,
because he blew the whistle and has set in motion a process which
we hope will ensure that any form of abuse within cricket at any
level can be swiftly identified, properly challenged and
appropriately punished. While it is of course for individual
sporting bodies to consider and respond to these kinds of
incidents, can the Minister confirm whether the Government have
plans to review the procedures in place across different sports
and, in the light of events at Yorkshire County Cricket Club,
governance arrangements, to ensure that they are fit for purpose?
Finally, what support are the department considering or planning
to offer the noble Lord, , in the difficult task that he
has taken on?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport ( of Whitley Bay) (Con)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his support for the noble
Lord, of Bradford, whom I spoke to
this morning. Understandably he is rather busy, focusing his
attention on the matter at hand, but I reassured him that there
is huge support across your Lordships’ House for him and the
important job he has in addressing this appalling situation at
Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
We are very glad that the noble Lord, , began by apologising to Azeem
Rafiq for the appalling behaviour and the unacceptable way in
which his case was dealt with. The Government will closely
scrutinise the actions that the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and
the ECB take in response to these very concerning allegations. We
want that investigation to be thorough and transparent but also
swift, to ensure that the public’s faith in cricket can be
restored—in Yorkshire and beyond. If not, the Government will not
hesitate to step in and act.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome the actions of the noble Lord, , but can my noble friend the
Minister look at all sports? It is not just cricket: it is
football—it is every sport. If you are a person of colour, the
pain that you suffer, as those sitting here of colour will know,
stays with you for life. It is important that we start looking at
these clubs. They make huge amounts of money. They need to look
at their codes of practice and what they are doing, and the
leadership must come from the top. It would be useful for us all
to know how they will report what they are doing in their clubs
across the country to improve the situation and ensure that local
communities are better represented within their own
movements.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My noble friend makes a very important point. Sport, like all
areas of society, has a very important role to play in tackling
discrimination where we see it. In June of this year, Sport
England, UK Sport and the other sports councils published the
results of a detailed independent review into tackling racism and
racial equality in sport. The findings made it clear that, sadly,
racism still exists in sport in the UK and that there are
long-standing issues for us all to tackle. Each council is
working swiftly to develop its own specific action plan to
deliver on these commitments and address the recommendations,
but, as she says, working with communities and individuals is a
hugely important part of that.
(LD)
My Lords, it is quite clear from what has happened that the
capacity of those sitting in darkened rooms to talk about
themselves to themselves is still very alive in sport, as in
other sections of our society. When the Equality and Human Rights
Commission gets involved, it shows that something has gone wrong.
What are the Government going to do to tell people, even if they
will not change—even though it is good to do so—that they must
change because society will not tolerate them carrying on like
this? Can we have an action plan?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord makes an important point. Something clearly went
catastrophically wrong with the culture at board level at
Yorkshire County Cricket Club. It is good that the former
chairman and two other members of the board have resigned, and
that the noble Lord, of Bradford, has come in to
drive the culture change that is needed there. It also makes the
important point, as he does, about the need for diversity and
representation at senior levels in sport, which we are aware
of.
(Con)
My Lords, I should first point out that I am a member of
Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club,
Middlesex County Cricket Club and MCC. With our friend, the noble
Lord, , now installed in Yorkshire, a
committee of inquiry being undertaken in the other place and an
investigation being carried out by the England and Wales Cricket
Board, do the Government not have some space to consider whether
any specific action on their part is required to confront the
appalling incidents that have come to light? At the same time,
perhaps to get some sense of perspective, we should remind
ourselves that cricket has its finer aspects, which hopefully
will be on display again in Abu Dhabi this afternoon.
of Whitley Bay (Con)
My noble friend is right: the vast majority of people who play
and enjoy cricket have the right attitude. He is a well-published
author on the subject as well as being a member of all the clubs
he mentioned. My honourable friend the Sports Minister met the
England and Wales Cricket Board at the department on Friday to
seek the assurances we wanted to hear about the approach it is
taking. We are following that very closely and will not hesitate
to take action ourselves if we think it necessary.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, a year and two weeks ago, Imam Qari Asim, who advises
the Government on Islamophobia, and myself, who advises
on anti-semitism wrote
to the ECB offering advice and requesting a meeting. In effect,
we have had no response whatsoever. Does the Minister think it a
good idea for cricket to take some advice, and should not Kick It
Out, which has done such good work in football, be properly
resourced to do similar work in cricket?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I am sure that the ECB has heard the reminder; it should reply to
the noble Lord and take him up on the offer of his insights and
expertise. He is also right to point to the work of Kick It Out.
Cindy Butts, who the ECB has appointed to chair its Independent
Commission for Equity in Cricket, has experience working with
Kick It Out in football and will be known to your Lordships as a
lay member of the Conduct Committee. We are very glad to see her
appointment and the work that she is taking forward.
(Con)
My Lords, may I make a more general point? Does my noble friend
agree that one should be rather slow to criticise individuals, or
to take action that can cause damage to individuals or
institutions, unless one is aware of all the relevant facts? Is
there not a danger that, out of a spirit of political
correctness, people are saying and doing things rather
prematurely?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
I do not entirely agree with my noble friend. He is right to
point to the need for evidence. That is why we are very keen to
see the full report and are glad that it has been provided to the
Select Committee in another place. However, this case, sadly, has
been going on for a number of years. It has not been dealt with
with the speed and thoroughness it ought to have been, and we are
glad that that finally is happening.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, is absolutely right
that racism goes much wider than sport. I am afraid I disagree
with the noble Lord; we must call it out wherever we see it,
because through silence we acquiesce and we condone. Therefore,
will the Minister work with other government departments to
ensure that there is a coherent approach, not only to the forms
of racism we see day in and day out, but to the other forms of
discrimination that debase the very society in which we live?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
Yes, absolutely. I am mindful of the Question yesterday on
inclusion in sport. That is at the centre of the Government’s
strategy Sporting Future. It is critical when confronting the
disease of racism that all of us speak out and call it out.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, which is why we want to see
the report in full so that everybody can play their part in
tackling this.
(LD)
My Lords, the issue goes much wider than cricket bodies. Clearly,
cricket is funded by big money and sponsors also have a role, not
in calling out individuals, but in dealing with institutional
racism of an organisation. Would the Minister like to give any
advice to sponsors such as NIC Group, which has refused, like
other sponsors, to take a stance against institutional racism, by
sitting on the fence and not doing what those like Anchor butter
did instantly in withdrawing their funds and standing up to
racism?
of Whitley Bay (Con)
It has been very powerful to see the response of sponsors in
focusing the minds of people at Yorkshire County Cricket Club on
the very concerning allegations that have been made and the way
they have been dealt with. I am sure the other sponsors will have
heard the noble Lord’s call for action, but I also hope they will
be reassured by the work the club is now finally taking.
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