The Sewell report on race and ethnic disparities, authored by the Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparities (CRED), caused quite a stir. While some considered it to be a much-needed intervention in Britain’s race-relations conversation, others accused the report of trivialising the impact of racism in modern-day Britain. The Sewell report, as well as describing Britain as the model for race relations among white-majority multi-ethnic countries, emphasised factors such as family structure and community characteristics when assessing racial and ethnic disparities. The UK Government’s recently published response to the Sewell report, which included a ministerial foreword from Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch, provided support for its key findings – including the assertion that one’s racial identity is not the primary determinant in the shaping of their life chances and personal development.

So, what are the main drivers of racial and ethnic disparities in the UK? How much progress has Britain made in terms of race relations and community cohesion? Does the government’s response to the Sewell report plant the seeds for the growth of an inclusive ‘social-justice conservatism’?

The Henry Jackson Society is delighted to invite you to this highly topical event, The UK Government’s Response to the Sewell Report on Race & Ethnic Disparities, which will be held on a virtual basis on Monday 4^th April 2022, 5pm-6pm BST.

Albie Amankona is a financial analyst, political commentator and co-founder of Conservatives Against Racism, For Equality (CARFE) an organisation of party activists and MPs building a conservative approach to closing racial disparities and improving British race relations.

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert is Head of Education and Coordinator at Don’t Divide Us (DDU). She is co-editor and contributing author of What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth, and writes on educational issues for academic and professional publications.

Esther Krakue is a political commentator, writer and a former contributor for the conservative-leaning young engagement initiative Turning Point UK. She is currently a contributor for GB News. She holds a BA in Politics and French from the University of Bristol, and has written for publications such as the Daily Mail, Spiked and the Daily Express. Esther has also featured on Sky News and TalkRadio to discuss contemporary race-related issues in the UK and beyond.

Dr Rakib Ehsan is an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, who sits in both the Centre on Radicalisation & Terrorism (CRT) and Centre on Social & Political Risk (CSPR). He holds a BA in Politics & International Relations (First-Class Honours), MSc in Democracy, Politics and Governance (Pass with Distinction), and a PhD in Political Science, all obtained from Royal Holloway, University of London. His PhD thesis, which was comprehensively sponsored by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), investigated the impact of social integration on the public attitudes of British non-white ethnic minorities. As well as providing evidence to both the UK Government’s Commission on Race & Ethnic Disparities (CRED) and The White House’s Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force (HETF), Rakib has written on matters of race and identity for publications such as Mail Plus, The Sun, The Telegraph, The Spectator, UnHerd and CapX.

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EVENT SUMMARY

On the 4^th March, Dr Rakib Ehsan, Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, Esther Krakue, a contributor for GB News, Albie Amankona, Co-Founder of Conservatives Against Racism For Equality, and Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, Head of Education and Coordinator at Don’t Divide Us, discussed the Sewell report and how far it goes in identifying the main drivers of racial and ethnic disparities in the UK and the progress made in addressing these issues.

Dr Ehsan began the discussion by introducing the topic of the event and the speakers. Esther Krakue spoke about how the Sewell report challenged the mainstream narrative that being an ethnic minority was a hinderance to succeeding in Britain with the data showing family structure is more important. She stated that growing up in a single parent household increases the risk of growing up in poverty. Albie Amankona, spoke about who many ethnic minority groups have core conservative value and that the Conservative party is failing to connect with them. In order to do this, he argues that the lefts monopoly on these issues must be challenged and that race relations in the UK although positive have become strained over the last two years. Dr Cuthbert argued that elements of the Sewell report were very positive but there were still areas for improvement. Notably there is a failure to account that supporters of institutional racism theory that will seek to impede the government attempt at reform. Additionally, she argues the government should be cautious about which schemes they endorse in the names of improving equality.

The discussion closed with a series of questions on why family structure overlooked when discussing ethnic disparities, why in England many Ethnic Minority groups have higher attainment in GCSEs, why are ethnic minority not voting for ethnic minority groups and how optimistic the panellists are about race relations in the UK.

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