In response to a recent Public Health England (PHE) report exposing that black, Asian and minority ethnic people were worst affected by Covid, Stephen Morgan MP has urged the Government to outline its plans for combating racial inequality in the House of Commons today.
The IFS estimated that Black Caribbean deaths are 1.8 times those of White British, Pakistani deaths are 2.7 times as high, and Black African fatalities 3 times higher.
The PHE report confirms that the impact of Covid-19 replicated existing health inequalities and, in some cases, exacerbated them further, particularly affecting minority groups.
Stephen Morgan MP said:
“Government’s long running failure to address issues that disproportionately effect minority communities such as poor housing, air pollution and overcrowding has resulted in Covid-19 hitting people from a BAME background harder – as the PHE has revealed.
I will continue to put pressure on Ministers to not only acknowledge the findings of the report, but implement the recommendations set out in the ‘Beyond the data’ publication and take stock of Labour’s race relations adviser’s recommendations which will be released soon.
Urgent, drastic and comprehensive measures must be set out by government to tackle this deeply entrenched racist rot that we find in every part of our society. There is no excuse for inaction.”
Labour has carried its own review into the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME groups, led by Baroness Doreen Lawrence who is Labour’s race relations adviser.
The report will gather data on the impact of Covid-19 on Black Asian Minority Ethnic Communities and will be released in the summer.
The city MP followed up his initial question to Government today with a targeted line of inquiry relating to workplace discrimination.
Data shows that almost half of BME workers (45%) have been given harder or more difficult tasks to do, over one third (36%) had heard racist comments or jokes at work, around a quarter (24%) had been singled out for redundancy and one in seven (15%) of those that had been harassed said they left their job because of the racist treatment they received.
On workplace discrimination, the city MP said:
“Research carried out by the TUC revealed that people from ethnic minorities are often blighted by discrimination at work. This is not only shocking, but the fact that this may be linked to increased deaths among this demographic is earthshattering.
From being given less desirable and more dangerous work to being singled out for redundancy and getting less PPE, the report identifies example after example of racism must be drummed out immediately.
That’s why today I demanded action from government in dealing with this discrimination and why I will continue to put pressure on Ministers to redress workplace inequality.”
