Contribution
My hon. Friend is absolutely right in all that she says. She is right to mark the 75th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. It was called for by Herbert Morrison, who presented the idea to the Cabinet, as part of efforts to build positivity and optimism after the second world war. As she may know, I want us to have another national festival of Britain, because it is time for us to celebrate much more of what we are as a nation. The Festival of Britain also contributed to the thinking behind the opening ceremony of the Olympic games that we hosted, and I hope that we can find many more opportunities to celebrate what we are as a nation today.
Through her election, my hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St Pancras is writing a new chapter in black history. At the last general election, 90 ethnic minority Members of Parliament were elected, according to Operation Black Vote, to all Benches, including 66 of my hon. Friends.
I want to recognise our friend and colleague, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE. I am proud to have worked with her in her role as chair of the Race Equality Engagement Group to strengthen the relationship between the Government and ethnic minority communities. In its first year, the group focused on access to finance for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, maternal and neonatal care, cardiovascular disease, policing, education, transition to work and opportunities for young people, with recommendations presented directly to Ministers.
I am proud that earlier this year, the Government published the consultation outcome and Government response on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. Ethnic minority and disabled people are less likely to be in work, less likely to be promoted and paid less, on average, than other employees. That is bad for equality, bad for business and, ultimately, bad for Britain. In the King’s Speech in July 2024, the Government committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with 250 or more employees. Introducing that reporting will provide vital data to help employers identify and take action to reduce ethnicity and disability pay gaps where they exist.
I thank Dianne Greyson, founder of the Ethnicity Pay Gap Campaign, and those from the business world who have supported this work and with whom I have worked, including Business in the Community, Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, BP, the London Stock Exchange Group, ShareAction, Change the Race Ratio and the Chartered Management Institute. We must find parliamentary time to move this policy forward. I know that the Minister is doing amazing work, but I would be grateful if in her closing remarks she could update the House on the Government’s next steps towards bringing forward legislation.
As we mark history and progress today, let us remember especially that progress is neither linear nor inevitable. Rising racism and intensifying division risks tearing our national fabric apart. It is incumbent on Government—indeed all of us—to take a stand for the values we believe in. In the year ending March 2024, police in England and Wales recorded over 140,000 hate crimes, and roughly 70% were racially motivated.
What we have seen happen elsewhere is increasingly close to home. We have seen vicious racist Reform UK councillors exposed by the recent ITV investigation, and Reform councillors calling children “animals” and talking about “infestation”. A councillor in my own constituency was recorded saying that he would “love to have slaves”. This goes against all that residents in Feltham and Heston stand for. Investigations into such behaviour must be credible, and our public life and society must stand strong against forces of racism and division.
Before I close, let me mention just a few of my constituents who are an inspiration to me and working to make our community a better place. Alexis Isa and Faith Lamptey, two young black girls who are year 13 students, recently compered the first Hounslow women’s conference, which I co-hosted with my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury). Another young black student, Rhema Acheampong-Owusu, was our digital and video lead, and co-edited a phenomenal video about the contribution of women to Hounslow’s history. Her mother, Mabel Acheampong-Owusu, a regular volunteer at St Lawrence’s church Feltham who is beginning her own catering business, put her heart and soul into ensuring that there was breakfast and lunch for all who came. Hibo Mohamoud and Daud Hassan are two stalwarts of our local Somali community who are always there for others. Christiana Wuche is a lecturer in adult nursing at Kingston university and the founder of Igbo Women in West London.
We stand on the shoulders of extraordinary men and women. They have been the torchbearers of the past, but it is we who are responsible for the legacy that we leave for tomorrow. Let us use this Black History Month not only to remember those who came before us, but to inspire those who come after us. Let us build a Britain in which equality is not simply something we aspire to, but something people experience in their everyday lives—a Britain where diversity is recognised as a strength, and where every child, whatever their background, can look at our national story and know that they are part of it. That is the Britain we should be proud to build together.