Trevor Phillips of the Equality and Human Rights Commission hit a nail on the head:
“If Barack Obama had lived here (in Britain), I would be very surprised if even somebody as brilliant as him would have been able to break through the institutional stranglehold that there is on power within the Labour Party“
A damning verdict on his former party’s record on ethnic minority involvement in politics. He even argues that the Conservatives have done better in recent years, particularly in selecting candidates for winnable seats in Parliament.
For far too long, Labour has taken the ethnic minority support for granted. Now it has slipped away after years of many betrayals (the collective withdrawal of support by Muslims over the Iraq War was probably the final straw).
Everybody in Britain knows that our electoral and political systems are deeply divided, not just on race, but also on class. Unless you get the right education or have connections, you are not going to get anywhere. So many talented people leave the country to live in places where their contributions will make a difference….. like the United States. That is why we need a full and frank discussion over how we should fight to change the way our society is governed.