The Wardman Wire

Trevor was wrong
Last week Trevor Philips claimed that the Labour party is institutionally racist and that it would not elect a British Obama. What a load of old hogwash. Philips, always one to want to cause a bit of outrage is actually being very foolish in saying this – far from tackling racism, he is doing ethnic minorities no favours at all.

Obama made it because he was the best, not because he was black
The assumption here is that Obama could not be elected in the UK because he is black. But he misses the fundamental point here: Barack Obama was not elected President because he was black. He was elected president because he was not only the best candidate on the day, but quite possibly one of the most formidable candidates not only the US has ever seen, but perhaps the world. On the same note, John McCain did not lose because he was a white man against a black man, he lost because he made some fundamental errors (not least choosing a pit-bull in makeup as a running mate) and he was simply not good enough. Yes, some people would have voted for Obama because he is black and some would have voted against him for the same reason, but in a country of over 300 million people it takes more than the colour of your skin to get elected or otherwise.

But why does Britain have so few top black MPs?
But that does beg the question – why does Britain have so few top ranked politicians from ethnic minorities? I am certain the answer does not lie in the accusation that Labour is institutionally racist. I also do not think there is any serious issue with the electorate. Britain elected a Jewish PM in Disraeli many years ago, at a time when being Jewish and in power was not the done thing. Britain elected the first female PM of any of the G7 countries almost 30 years ago. The electorate is not, generally speaking, bigoted – we more often than not end up with the best candidate on the day.

I have absolutely no doubt that if a black candidate stood for election in the UK who was made of the stuff of a leader and Prime Minister, he would be elected. The problem is that there are no candidates of this calibre coming through. Not in any great numbers. So what should we do?

Positive discrimination helps no one
First of all, I am not a believer in positive discrimination. It actively promotes racism rather than tackles it by highlighting someone’s race rather than their ability to do the job. Secondly, I do not believe that a black female needs to be necessarily represented by a black female; she needs to be represented by the strongest representative – and they may well be a white male. It would be a disaster if we started to contrive our parliament to mirror the make-up of our nation. Though some food for thought – even if we did that would still mean 92% of the Commons would be white and only 2% Black. That would mean 598 white MPs and just 13 Black MPs at the next election. But why would we want to engineer that anyway? Surely it would be better to have 598 MPs who were black if they were the better candidates?

Represent me with the best candidate
My needs are best represented by the highest calibre candidate, not the one that fits my racial and religious make up and who shares my sexual preference. Of course, there is a need for varying opinions and experiences in the Commons and that will inevitably mean that the voice of the gay community, or women, of the young, of the old, of all colour and creed will make for a better House, but let the people decide that, not some contrived short list or selection process.

There is a problem however
There is clearly a problem however. There has been a distinct lack of high profile men and women in the top jobs of government from ethnic minority and other groups. The reasons for this are far more complicated than throw away comments like the ones from Trevor Philips about Labour being institutionally racist. By saying that, Philips is helping no-one and only creating tensions. While I am opposed to positive discrimination, the parties should be doing much more in terms of affirmative action. This should focus on the groups of people who are disassociated with politics – most commonly the young and those from ethnic backgrounds.

Generation Obama
We need to understand why they are not heading in to politics in greater numbers and assure them that they will be given opportunities on merit. We also need to ensure that all groups are better educated - most significantly little back boys and little white working class boys. We should pour money in to the root of the problem, not cover it up at the top with token appointments. We need to create a whole generation of Barack Obamas from the cradle - a generation of educated, confident and inspirational men and women of all races and creeds.

So will Britain ever have a Black or Asian PM? I am almost certain think it will and I hope I am here to see it. I also hope that they, like Barack Obama, have got to where they are because they were given the opportunity and took that opportunity on merit.