TMP Online

Leading experts on employment, housing, education, health and social cohesion policies argue that immigration presents an opportunity to raise the standard of public services in Britain today.

Challenging the standard view that pressure from migrants for better services is leading to a deterioration of standards, the report published by Compass with the Barrow Cadbury Trust and Migrant’s Rights Network, argues that the increased resources and greater diversity of experience which migrants bring with them, can contribute to the drive for a modern, more responsive, progressive direction for public policy.

The report calls on the public, professionals and policy makers to assist in reframing the immigration debate.

The report also questions the viability of any points based immigration system. It says the Government is in danger of locking itself into a mind set that tells the public they can control flows of people to precise numbers based on a complex points system and that approach is bound to unravel.

The Compass report, Towards a Progressive Immigration Policy, argues the immigration debate must be re-framed to welcome the economic and social benefits that come from migration but also acknowledge our responsibility to protect the rights of migrants.

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Being a councillor is still seen as a white, middle class hobby for men according to new research by the Government Office of Equality and the Fawcett Society.

Responding to the findings, Harriet Harman (right), Minister for Women and Equalities, has called for more ethnic minority women to take up roles in public life and wants the number of Black, Asian and ethnic minority women councillors to rise to around 1,000 to make councils fully representative and strengthen local democracy.

Currently, there are 19,689 councillors across England and only 168 of them are ethnic minority women, which is less than one per cent (0.9%) despite the fact that ethnic minority women make up 4.6 per cent of the UK population.

Speaking at a reception to mark Black History Month, Minister for Women and Equalities Harriet Harman said:

“Traditionally people have seen being a councillor as a white middle class hobby for men. The 2.3 million Black, Asian and ethnic minority women in the UK make a great contribution to our society and economy and we need them to be represented at every level of our democracy from magistrates and councillors in their local communities to MPs at Westminster.”

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Leading members of the British centre-left urge Prime Minister Gordon Brown to put society first and to reach out to crucial bases of support, including black and ethnic minority voters, in this statement published today by pressure group, Compass.  The statement has been signed by the Compass Management Committee (of which TMP editor, Chuka Umunna, is a member), Jon Cruddas MP, Jon Trickett MP, UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, and others.

British politics is suddenly in flux. The postponement of a general election that looked all but certain only weeks ago has sent shockwaves through Westminster and beyond. After a summer of soaring poll leads, Labour is facing a newly-energised Conservative Party. The Liberal Democrats are about to stage their second leadership contest in two years. Other rapidly-changing issues and events are only contributing to the sense of tumult. For Labour, this presents both threats and opportunities.

Gordon Brown needs to demonstrate that he is not the victim of events, but their master. To do so, he will have to show that the way he both acts and reacts is informed by a connecting narrative which guides the government through the chaotic processes which inevitably buffet any modern party. He and his government need to make sense of their actions, and provide an intellectually and morally coherent vision for his premiership. This, needless to say, is a matter of urgency.

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In the wake of the election that never was, there has been much comment about Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s alleged lack of vision. Three years ago this month, Brown made a seminal speech in which he argued for the need to build a progressive consensus in Britain and to look beyond narrow, individual, self interest to the interests of everyone in society.  The speech which was given to the 2004 Compass national conference attracted much comment.

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Britain’s first Muslim Minster , Shahid Malik, was said to be “deeply disappointed” after being detained at Dulles Airport in Washington DC where his hand luggage was analysed for traces of explosive materials yesterday.

The Dewsbury MP was appointed in June by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as an International Development Minister and has been a lead voice on tackling terrorism. His constituency of Dewsbury was home to the lead suicide bomber on 7 July 2005 and has the highest BNP vote in the country.

Mr Malik had just completed a series of meetings and speaking engagements in the USA on promoting integration and empowering citizens to defeat terrorism. He was searched and detained by the Department for Homeland Securities at Dulles airport, the very department whose representatives he had been meeting and who Mr Malik has been supporting since 7/7 including organising a meeting for them in Parliament.  His detention is all the more suprising given that TMP has been informed that he was accompanied by British government officials and was not travelling alone at the time.

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Labour Movement for Europe executive committee member, Owais Rajput, explains what the EU Reform Treaty means for us in this Q&A briefing below, but do you agree with his analysis? 

1. What happened at the June 2007 EU Summit meeting?

There is no doubt at all about what happened at the EU Summit meeting held in Brussels on 22nd to 24th June 2007. Taking into account the divergent decisions by EU member states – 18 to ratify the proposed European Constitution and two to reject it – the national leaders of the EU countries agreed to seek a compromise acceptable to all. They agreed to abandon the idea of a constitution, and instead draw up a Reform Treaty which would simply amend the already existing treaties, retaining many of the pragmatic reforms to the EU system envisaged in the constitution, but dropping controversial elements that had given cause for concern in some countries. In addition, some special provisions, including opt-outs, were agreed for Britain.

2. How much of the proposed Reform Treaty is the same as the original Constitution?

The Reform Treaty retains a large number of the less controversial elements of the abandoned constitution, which is why it is claimed that it is 90% identical. However, scientific research has concluded that humans and mice share 90% of the same DNA – which shows just how crucial the 10% difference can be! We no longer have a proposal to repeal all the existing treaties and replace them with a constitution. Nor a proposal to change the name of the EU’s external representative to “foreign minister”, nor what some criticised as the “trappings of statehood” such as a flag and anthem. The extra opt-outs for Britain make this a more different treaty for Britain than for other member states. What it does keep are some of the reforms designed to make the enlarged EU work more effectively and also to achieve better democratic scrutiny.

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Our friends at the New Statesman have published two important and excellent pieces on black culture this month.

The first article sees the popular commentator, Bonnie Greer, taking a more nuanced approach to issues of role models and leaders in the black community. Greer says:
“Following the recent visit of Jesse Jackson to the UK, the Guardian lamented that black Britain had not, as yet, created a similar leader of equivalent power and influence. I congratulate black Britain on its failure to achieve this. Here, the ‘Big Man’ model of a Jackson or a Farrakhan cannot be the answer. ‘No Leader’ would be more particular to this country.”

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Compass Chair, Neal Lawson, argues that the inaugural meeting of the Business Council of Britain (including the likes of Damon Buffini) is fine, but really we need to address social ills first.

Yesterday, Gordon Brown’s Business Council for Britain met for the first time. The PM, Chancellor Alistair Darling and other ministers met with the likes of Sir Richard Branson, private equity tycoon Damon Buffini (below), GlaxoSmithKline’s Jean-Pierre Garnier and Sir Alan Sugar, chair and CEO of Amstrad but now more famous for the Apprentice TV shows.

The agenda was globalisation, skills and climate change. But the underlying issue for all business is how to make as much profit as possible. That’s fair enough. It’s their job. But we all pay a price for the relentless focus on making money, and the demand for free markets that goes with it. The objective of these people is to get us to pay as much as possible for their goods. If they employ us, their goal is to pay us as little as possible for as much flexibility as they need.

So what else should they be discussing? As they are chauffeur-driven to and from business meetings, these captains of industry probably don’t realise that there is a social recession of time, poverty, stress and mental illness afflicting our country. This recession has its roots in the prioritisation of the market over society. So, in the nation’s interest, what should they be discussing at their meetings?

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In his first major speech since taking over as Chair of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips has called for the government to introduce the use of representative actions, legal action taken on behalf of a group of named individuals that is similar to a class action law suit. Mr. Phillips was speaking to an audience in Cardiff at the annual Bevan Foundation lecture this week.

Against a backdrop in which recent figures from the National Employment Panel indicate 83 percent of employers now believe they will never face sanctions for discrimination, Mr. Phillips said there were powerful reasons to shift the burden away from individuals taking individual claims – often at great personal cost and without adequate legal representation – to organisations like the new Equality and Human Rights Commission taking cases on behalf of groups of individuals. Mr. Phillips (right) said:

“Access to justice through the courts is a luxury good for many of those experiencing discrimination. Many cases are meritorious, many have had an experience which has been intolerable, and who should have their day in court – but there is just no way to fund them.

More importantly, going to a tribunal takes patience, resource and fortitude – and these qualities are demanded at the very moment when an individual has been made to feel small and impotent. In truth, taking action against discrimination today is the business of heroes. It should not be.”

As the government conducts an ongoing review of anti-discrimination legislation with a view towards creating a Single Equality Act early next year, Mr. Phillips said the Commission’s response to the government’s consultation on the Bill, published on Tuesday, asked for the power to take such group actions, something the Commission is calling “representative actions”.

Representative actions would allow the Commission to bring a claim on behalf of a number of identified individuals and to use the full weight of its legal powers to bring about change. In financial terms, this would provide real access to justice and protect individuals from having to stand up alone and fight their case – fearing victimisation if they do.

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We need to ask what causes people to carry weapons in the first place, argues TMP editor, Chuka Umunna, in the wake of the President of the National Black Police Association’s call for more stop and search.

Another day, another shooting in urban Britain. South London residents like myself woke yesterday to find chaos on Streatham High Road. Like a scene from a movie, two men – both black – had been gunned down in a drive-by shooting on Europe’s longest high street, in the early hours and close to the ice rink where 16-year-old James Andre Smartt-Ford was murdered earlier this year.

The usual stream of buses were brought to a sudden halt and diverted. Cue long-faced bus drivers and annoyed passengers. The increasing speed with which the shock subsides after each passing firearms incident and people’s attention turns to transport disruption and the matter of how to get to work, is symptomatic of how frequent such occurrences seem to be becoming in our inner cities. Sadly, people are getting used to it.

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