The MP for Tottenham David Lammy addressed the Black Lives Matter movement and wondered they can sustain the energy of the cause seen during the lockdown.
David Lammy began by pointing at the scale of events seen in America early in lockdown which “ricocheted across the world,” and led to “a very real debate, conversation in this country” over race relations, he claimed.
The Labour MP welcomed the activists that were addressing what he saw as “institutional racism” in the UK during the lockdown and saw it important to shine a light on the issue here.
Mr Lammy told LBC listeners: “What matters to me is how do we sustain the energy of the black lives movement, how do we keep the conversation going and more importantly, how do we this time get some action, how do we really get the change.”
David told listeners that he was fed up with having to hide behind enquiries and reports investigating racism in the UK and told listeners “we’ve got so many enquiries…when will we act?”
“It feels like that perennial issue of policing remains a sore, remains a scar,” Lammy said, going on to point out many what he saw as instances of heavy-handed police officers in the UK.
Mr Lammy insisted that he doesn’t get involved in whether or not people should take a knee, rather “It’s about having a police service that can police cities like London well.”
He argued that officers need to “act with communities,” if they are to address race relations effectively and to do this you must have minority representation in the force.
However, he then countered his own suggestion when he pointed out that the percentage of black officers in the UK is just 1%.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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