When asked about the resignation of Samuel Kasumu, No 10’s most senior black adviser, universities minister Gillian Keegan tells Times Radio: “I don’t even know who he is!” Kasumu first handed in his resignation in February, but retracted it. Kasumu, is Number 10’s special adviser for civil society and communities.
Downing Street sources have rejected any suggestions that his departure is linked to the findings of the commissioned report on race.
Since yesterday there has been huge backlash and criticism from campaigners, when the report came out on Wednesday.
The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities – was set up last year after Black Lives Matter protests – it claimed the UK “no longer” had a system rigged against minorities. Labour has accused the government of downplaying institutional racism – rejected that the UK is still ‘institutionally racist’ and suggested the country should be seen as a global ‘model’ of equality. The Labour Party, pointed out that it overlooked inequalities in the criminal justice system and is offensive to frontline workers from communities who have disproportionately died in the pandemic. This not a good week for Boris Johnson. #BAME #UKNews #BorisJohnson
