The Labour deputy leadership contenders have all had their say about the introduction of ethnic minority shortlists for the selection of Labour parliamentary candidates. Now the Prime Minister-in-waiting has had his say….well, almost.

Speaking at a leadership and deputy leadership hustings last night in Leicester, Gordon Brown said that it was wrong that there were only 12 ethnic minority MPs and pledged to address the issue as prime minister (there are actually 15, of which 13 are Labour) . But how? He did not say. As with many policy issues – electoral reform, Iraq and others – he left us guessing.

The hustings was organised by the Labour Party’s Ethnic Minority Taskforce, which is chaired by the former minister, Keith Vaz MP.

Meanwhile Hazel Blears MP, the Party Chair, also speaking at the event, said she was going to call on Labour’s National Executive Committee “to draw up a code of conduct to move towards all BME shortlists”.

At present, the NEC’s procedural guidelines for the selection of parliamentary candidates simply state that“ In pursuance of the party’s objective of considerably increasing the numberof …Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (hereafter referred to as BAME) members and other groups currently under-represented in parliament, parties and affiliates should place particular emphasis on the need to positively encourage consideration of …BAME members.”

The party is in the process of taking legal advice on the issue. Lawyers predict that the race relations legislation will need to be amended to allow the introduction of the measure.

Tony Blair should use next week’s G8 summit and next month’s EU summit to press for action on Darfur, according to a new report published today by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The ippr’s report argues that targeted economic sanctions against the top members of the Sudanese Government are the best way to get Khartoum to accept a UN force in Darfur and reopen serious peace negotiations with the rebels.

In January 2006, a UN Panel of Experts belatedly drew up a list of seventeen individuals who have undermined peace in Darfur. A subsequent Panel of Experts report (in August 2006) included an additional confidential list of individuals identified for sanctions, including senior people in the Sudanese government. A parallel UN-appointed International Commission of Inquiry identified 51 people responsible for serious violations of international human rights law, including crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The IPPR report argues that the UN Security Council should impose an immediate assets freeze and a travel ban on all 17 people listed in that UN Panel of Experts report and on the 51 individuals named by the UN Commission of Inquiry. The IPPR says if the Security Council fails to agree this then the G8 and EU countries should act independently.

Since the start of the Darfur conflict in 2003, an estimated 200,000 people have been killed, more than two million people have been displaced and nearly four million people are now dependent on humanitarian aid for food, shelter and health care.

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U.S citizens do not benefit from universal health care provision, as we do in the U.K.  Whether or not you can obtain health care in the U.S largely depends on whether you have health insurance.

Two-thirds of Americans get private health insurance from their employers. Most of the elderly are covered by the U.S Federal government’s Medicare programme and 40 million of the poorest Americans benefit from the Medicaid programme. However, the Medicaid programme is means tested, which leaves many - an estimated 45 million - with little (or no) coverage at all. Those left out tend to be people in low-wage jobs or who work for businesses that cannot afford to provide private health care insurance for their employees.

This week, the Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, has put forward proposals for a universal healthcare plan. His far-reaching plan would provide every U.S citizen with health care and calls on government, businesses and consumers to share the costs of the programme.

Commenting on his proposals, Obama said,
“To help pay for this, we will ask all but the smallest businesses who don’t make a meaningful contribution to the health coverage of their workers to do so to support this plan”
He also said he would repeal “the temporary Bush tax cut for the wealthiest taxpayers” to help pay for the plan.

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Three reports have been published today by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the effects of migration to Britain. The first report examined the effects of migration on neighbourhood relationships in Manchester and London, whilst the other two focused on the experiences of East European migrants to the UK.

The first report found that poverty can undermine neighbourhood relationships between migrants and British people. Yet the report also showed that many residents – new and established – aspired to a sense of community, valued diversity and shared many of the same concerns about their areas.

The research found that local tensions, sometimes racialised and often targeted at new migrants, were driven by struggles for resources and perceptions of unfairness. Age and gender also seemed to be factors in bringing about tensions in local relations.

The findings of the reports on East European migration make a strong case for including economic migrants in social and community cohesion strategies, even when their stay is expected to be temporary. Less than half of migrants had received practical information on arrival. This left many ignorant of the conditions attached to their immigration status, how to access health care, and what their legal rights at work are.

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Today’s Observer newspaper reports that the UK’s schools are diving along racial lines.  A Department for Education and Skills report apparently shows that a majority of pupils in many areas of the country, outside of London and particularly in the North, have little contact with children from different ethnic backgrounds despite their often close proximity.  The capital stands alone in having ethnically balanced intakes.  The DfES does not appear to have made the report available for public consumption on its website; when it does, a link will be provided on this site.

David Lammy MP, the Minister for Culture, has kindly let TMP have a copy of the speech he gave earlier this week on empowerment and the community.

In the speech, he points to the huge changes that have taken place under a decade of Labour in power and how, in addition to offering different challenges and opportunities, the world we now live in throws up uncertainty and insecurity for many, which needs to be addressed.

Lammy ponders the role of the market, stating that “the challenges of the next ten years point to a need to rethink the place of the market and the role of the state” and he warns that “we should be wary of politicians who are ideologically wedded to the market”.

He refers to the recent UNICEF report on young people and the fact that the countries which came out best in that report were Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, “countries that understand that we can’t rely on the market to deliver well-being on its own”. Whilst he acknowledges that markets are good at creating wealth, he says that they are not always good at providing “balance, well-being, support and care”.

To read a copy of the speech, click here - fabians-speech-david-lammy-may-2007.pdf

Labour parliamentary selections are well under way and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BME) activists are waiting to see whether the contests produce any more BME parliamentary candidates, following Rushanara Ali’s (pictured) successful selection in Bethnal Green & Bow.

Hornsey & Wood Green Labour Party shortlisted Catherine West, Jan Etienne, Karen Jennings, Nilgun Canver, Claudia Webb and Jayne Buckland from a field of 12 candidates last night. West, the Leader of Islington Labour Group, and Etienne, a university lecturer and former Southend West PPC, appear to be the clear front runners having picked up 8 and 6 nominations respectively. Etienne is the leading BME candidate in a constituency where 23.6% of the population is BME. The hustings is due to take place on Sunday 17 June. The seat is held by the Liberal Democrats with a 2,395 majority.

Meanwhile, the timetable for the parliamentary selection in Croydon Central, where 23% of the population is BME, is under way. BME contenders in a field of 27 candidates include Patrick Vernon, a Hackney councillor, Dora Dixon- Fyle, a Southwark councillor, and Afsana Shukur, former head of the DWP’s ethnic minority employment division, and at least ten local members. The shortlisting is due to take place on Sunday 17 June with the hustings due on Saturday 7 July. The seat is held by the Conservatives with a slim majority of 75.

A selection timetable to pick a candidate to succeed Piara Khabra MP in safe seat Ealing Southall, following the Labour Party NEC’s decision to impose an all women shortlist there, is still to be announced.

Raj Jethwa, the London Labour Party’s ethnic minority officer, argues that Labour must not get complacent about representation.

On 15 May, I attended a meeting of the Harrow Council Cabinet to provide support for Labour Councillor Nana Assante, who presented a petition against the Conservative administration’s threat to drastically reduce support for Black History Month in the borough. In the year that we celebrate 200 hundred years since the abolition of the slave trade in the UK, in one of the most diverse boroughs in the country, it beggars belief that Cameron’s new look Conservatives could be so culturally-insensitive.

If this illustrates one point in particular, it is that those striving for greater diversity in our political system shouldn’t hold their breathe waiting for the Tories.

In 2005 and 2006, Harrow’s Labour administration spent £10,000 on Black History Month, community groups were invited to participate in a Black History Month Forum, and events took place from September to November. This year the Conservative-run council proposes only one day of activities and has provided no details of a budget.

Celebrating Black History Month properly is an important way of improving the confidence and promoting the positive contributions of Black people in British society. Crucially, it is a key element of celebrating our diversity.

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On the eve of the publication of the Energy White Paper, TMP environment columnist, Hugh Goulbourne, argues that it is the poorest who will suffer from environmental degredatiom if we do not face up to climate change issues.

Gordon Brown launched his bid for the leadership of the Labour Party and the country last week. One of his key campaign announcements was the promise to invest in building sustainable and affordable eco homes.

This promise, which is embedded with the principles of social justice, should come as welcome news to all progressives. Not only will it provide the poorest in our society with much needed housing, but it will also contribute to the fight against climate change and environmental injustice.

Environmental injustice is endemic in our society, where disadvantaged communities suffer the most from poor environmental policies. Climate change is an important example of this. Its effects are likely to damage developing countries much more than industrialised nations. Yet it is those of us in the richer industrialised countries who are using far more than our fair share of resources - about three quarters of the emissions which cause climate change come from the developed countries.

This dynamic is replicated in the UK itself, where statistics show that poor communities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental risk. For example, higher levels of pollution from factories are found in areas of poverty. Similarly, despite low levels of car ownership, pollution from motorised traffic is much more concentrated in deprived inner-city areas than in the leafy suburbs.

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TMP editor, Chuka Umunna, ponders who should be appointed to succeed Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank. 

So, the arch neo-conservative, Paul Wolfowitz, has been given the boot – sorry, resigned - from the presidency of the World Bank. He supposedly did so with his reputation in tact.

The statement issued by the Board of the bank last week said they accepted that Wolfowitz “acted ethically and in good faith in what he believed were the best interests of the institution”, in the controversy which led to his departure - the promotion of his girlfriend, a World Bank staffer. If that were the case, why did he resign?

The Board went on to say that it was clear “that a number of mistakes were made by a number of individuals in handling the matter”, but they did not actually name Wolfowitz as a culprit. So are we to believe he was not personally at fault? There appears to be somewhat of an inconsistency here.

So now he is off, who should replace Wolfowitz to become the eleventh president of the World Bank?

The bank is primarily made up of two development institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, which are owned by 185 member countries. It is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.

The bank provides low-interest loans, interest-free credit, and grants to developing countries for education, health, agriculture, environmental protection and infrastructure. Ironically, in light of the allegations against Wolfowitz, the bank also works to promote good governance and reduce corruption in the world.

Traditionally, the president of the bank is a citizen of the U.S - the bank’s biggest shareholder - and serves for five year, renewable, terms. Though nominated by the U.S government, the appointment must be confirmed by the bank’s Board. That said, the U.S normally gets its way in this respect, hence the appointment of Bush hard-liner, Wolfowitz, back in 2005.

The attributes required of a World Bank president are pretty ill-defined. The bank’s website, rather unhelpfully, states that the president is chairman of the bank’s Board and president of its constituent organisations, which is a bit like saying the Prime Minister is head of the UK government – the description doesn’t tell us what the occupant of the post does every day or what makes a good Prime Minister. To the extent that there is any agreement on the qualities needed, the consensus appears to be that the World Bank president should at least be a political and, above all, economic heavyweight with some development experience.

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