Exclusive: Author of report that shaped New Labour race policy praises Azeem Rafiq’s courage for speaking out
The rejection of multiculturalism by successive governments has helped fuel “vulgar racism” of the kind experienced by Azeem Rafiq, according to the lead author of a seminal report.
Bhikhu Parekh, the former chair of the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, said he was deeply disturbed by the former cricketer’s testimony. Lord Parekh’s report, published in 2000 as part of a commission established by the Runnymede Trust, shaped much of New Labour’s policy on multiculturalism, with the then home secretary, Jack Straw, heralding it as “the most important contribution to the national debate on racial discrimination for many years”.
