Latest news with #TrevorPhillips
Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Climate
- Evening Standard
Military pause not enough to ease Gaza suffering, Lammy warns
'Until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help,' he told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show.
Sky News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Met Police chief says force 'stretched' and justice system 'frustrating' - as he admits London's 'shameful' racism challenge
It is "shameful" that black boys growing up in London are "far more likely" to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News. In a wide-ranging interview with Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the commissioner said that relations with minority communities are "difficult for us", while also speaking about the state of the justice system and the size of the police force. Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK's largest police force in 2022, said: "We can't pretend otherwise that we've got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong. "And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That's not in doubt. I'm being as relentless in that as it can be." He said the "vast majority" of the force are "good people". However, he added: "But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern." Sir Mark, who also leads the UK's counter-terrorism policing, said black boys growing up in London "are far more likely to be dead by the time they're 18" than white boys. "That's, I think, shameful for the city," he admitted. "The challenge for us is, as we reach in to tackle those issues, that confrontation that comes from that reaching in, whether it's stop and search on the streets or the sort of operations you seek. "The danger is that's landing in an environment with less trust. "And that makes it even harder. But the people who win out of that [are] all of the criminals." The commissioner added: "I'm so determined to find a way to get past this because if policing in black communities can find a way to confront these issues, together we can give black boys growing up in London equal life chances to white boys, which is not what we're seeing at the moment. "And it's not simply about policing, is it?" Sir Mark said: "I think black boys are several times more likely to be excluded from school, for example, than white boys. "And there are multiple issues layered on top of each other that feed into disproportionality." 'We're stretched, but there's hope and determination' Sir Mark said the Met is a "stretched service" but people who call 999 can expect an officer to attend. "If you are in the middle of a crisis and something awful is happening and you dial 999, officers will get there really quickly," Sir Mark said. "I don't pretend we're not a stretched service. "We are smaller than I think we ought to be, but I don't want to give a sort of message of a lack of hope or a lack of determination." "I've seen the mayor and the home secretary fighting hard for police resourcing," he added. "It's not what I'd want it to be, but it's better than it might be without their efforts." 0:39 'Close to broken' justice system facing 'awful' delays Sir Mark said the criminal justice system was "close to broken" and can be "frustrating" for police officers. "The thing that is frustrating is that the system - and no system can be perfect - but when the system hasn't managed to turn that person's life around and get them on the straight and narrow, and it just becomes a revolving door," he said. "When that happens, of course that's frustrating for officers. "So the more successful prisons and probation can be in terms of getting people onto a law-abiding life from the path they're on, the better. "But that is a real challenge. I mean, we're talking just after Sir Brian Leveson put his report out about the close-to-broken criminal justice system. "And it's absolutely vital that those repairs and reforms that he's talking about happen really quickly, because the system is now so stressed." Giving an example, the police commissioner went on: "We've got Snaresbrook [Crown Court] in London - it's now got more than 100 cases listed for 2029." Sir Mark asked Trevor Phillips to imagine he had been the victim of a crime, saying: "We've caught the person, we've charged him, 'great news, Mr Phillips, we've got him charged, they're going to court'. "And then a few weeks later, I see the trial's listed for 2029. That doesn't feel great, does it?" Asked about the fact that suspects could still be on the streets for years before going to trial, Sir Mark conceded it's "pretty awful". He added: "If it's someone on bail, who might have stolen your phone or whatever, and they're going in for a criminal court trial, that could be four years away. And that's pretty unacceptable, isn't it?" 7:21 Challenge to reform the Met The Met chief's comments come two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard. She pinned the primary blame for the Met's culture on its past leadership and found stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive. At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Baroness Casey insisted the Met deserved. However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark - and could fire him - made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey's verdict. A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Labour's move to create official definition of Islamophobia is condemned as 'nonsensical'
Labour 's move to create an official definition of Islamophobia is about 'policing thinking and speech' rather than protecting Muslims, Sir Trevor Phillips has said. The former chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission said it was 'nonsensical' to introduce a government-backed definition because there were plenty of existing laws protecting Muslims from hate crimes. He branded it a 'Leninist manoeuvre' because it could be used to shut down free speech and legitimate criticism about some aspects of Islam. Speaking at a debate in Parliament, he added: 'If you are a Muslim in Britain are you [already] protected? Yes. End of story. We don't need a definition. We have perfect legal remedies against discrimination. There are much more important things to deal with.' He said it was 'illiterate' to suggest that Muslims are 'a race' for the purposes of drawing up a definition. Tory MP Claire Coutinho, a former Cabinet minister, said a definition was being drawn up by the 'back door' without 'democratic consent'. She warned it is likely to be counterproductive because it could spark a 'backlash' against Muslims rather than help to protect them, in the same way trans activists were derided after the Supreme Court 's landmark ruling on gender being based on biological sex in April went against them. 'This is not commanding public support. It's a push from radical activists,' she added. She warned it could lead to public sector workers, as well as university staff or students, living in fear of facing disciplinary action if accused of doing or saying something that falls foul of the definition. While there is a definition for anti-Semitism, set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Sir Trevor and Ms Coutinho said this made sense because it was launched specifically to deal with the issue of Holocaust denial. But there was no equivalent purpose for defining Islamophobia, they added. The Tories' housing and local government spokesman, Kevin Hollinrake, said Labour's move was purely 'for political reasons' and would be a 'disaster' for free speech. Baroness Spielman, the former boss of schools watchdog Ofsted, said it threatened to entrench ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam. She told how she had once backed a primary school headteacher who did not want six and seven-year-old girls being forced into wearing hijabs in the classroom, adding: 'But I had 1,100 letters accusing me of Islamophobia for backing the headteacher of the primary school. It had a chilling effect on other schools.' She said creating an official definition of Islamophobia would make it harder to tackle such attitudes because it could be used to silence legitimate concerns. The cross-party debate was hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Speech, led by Tory MP Richard Holden. He warned that introducing an official definition could create a 'two-tier' system that 'protects some people's views above some other people's views'. Labour commissioned the work to devise a 'non-statutory' definition of Islamophobia in what it says is a move to combat anti-Muslim abuse. But there are fears it could lead to a blasphemy law by the back door and stifle legitimate criticism of Islam. Critics suspect the move is politically motivated to hang on to the large Muslim vote Labour enjoys in swathes of the country. The party has set up a working group, whose chairman is former Tory Dominic Grieve, to devise the definition. Its call for evidence closes on Saturday.
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Labour's plans for ‘Islamophobia' definition are aimed at shutting down free speech, warns ex-equalities chief
LABOUR'S plans for an 'Islamophobia' definition are aimed at shutting free-speech, Britain's ex-equalities chief warned yesterday. Sir Trevor Phillips blasted the secretive working group responsible for the new definition, arguing they are trying to police how people think and shut down criticism of Islam. 1 Sir Trevor led the Equality and Human Rights Commission between 2006-2012 and was chairman of the racial justice think tank, the Runnymede Trust, for five years. At an anti-definition meeting in Westminster yesterday he said: 'What the definitions that have been sought in relation to Islamophobia are about is what you think and what you say. 'There is a whole piece of nonsense going on here.' The top broadcaster added: 'We don't need a definition, we've got perfectly good legal remedies against discrimination.' The Islamophobia working group is being led by ex- Tory minister Dominic Grieve – with the new definition being drawn up behind closed doors. Senior politicians covering all parties have slammed the draft plan, which would be rubber-stamped by Deputy PM Angela Rayner, as 'blasphemy by the back door'. Tory Shadow Minister Claire Coutinho blasted the definition as 'extreme ideology' and a 'push from radical activists'. Ex- Labour MP Khalid Mahmood warned that it would lead to anyone accusing an Imam of sexual impropriety – such as in grooming gang cases – to be labelled racist. He said: 'This is Trotskyist entryism. It is designed to stifle speech.' Ex-Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman also raised alarms about the definition yesterday. She argued it could force teachers to bend to the will of conservative Muslim parents trying to push Islamism into the classroom.
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
University staff face punishment if they breach Labour's Islamophobia definition
University staff and students will face disciplinary action if they breach Labour's new definition of Islamophobia, a cross-party group of peers has warned. More than 30 peers have written to the working group responsible for the new definition to warn that the proposals risk having a 'chilling effect' on free speech. The working group is understood to be proposing a 'non-statutory' definition that it hopes could become a template for the workplace policies of universities, governmental and other public sector bodies. It is designed to counter a surge in anti-Muslim abuse but has raised fears that it could stifle legitimate criticism of Islam as a religion and act as a de facto blasphemy law. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general who is chairman of the group, told the peers that he hoped the new non-statutory definition of Islamophobia would be 'embedded in university speech codes and curb 'micro-aggressions''. However, in a letter to Mr Grieve, seen by The Telegraph, the peers warn: 'This presumably would mean any member of a university that says or does something that falls foul of the definition would face potential penalties.' They said it was also likely to cover staff at other organisations who would face similar sanctions if it was embedded in their workplace policies, including government departments, councils, courts, NHS trusts, museums, galleries, schools and regulators. The peers cited the case of Sir Trevor Phillips, who was suspended by Labour for Islamophobia in 2020 after the party adopted a non-statutory definition drawn up by an all party parliamentary group jointly headed by Wes Streeting. They said: 'The fact that your definition will be 'non-statutory' does not mean it will not have a chilling effect on free speech, particularly if it enjoys the stamp of government approval and various organisations feel obliged to embed it in their equity, diversity and inclusion policies, as well as workplace training course. 'Our principal concern is that if your Working Group comes up with a definition and it is taken up by the Government it will have a chilling effect on free speech and exacerbate community tensions. 'We respectfully urge you to advise the Government that it would be unwise for the state to adopt an official definition of 'Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred', an option you said your group was considering.' Among the signatories of the letter are Lord Young, the director of the Free Speech Union; Lord Frost, the former cabinet minister; Baroness Hoey, the former Labour MP; and Baroness Deech, the chair of the Lords Appointments Commission. The peers claimed that there was no evidence that creating a definition would reduce incidents of Islamophobia. They added that it could let the Government off taking more concrete action. 'Wholly inadequate' They said: 'The lesson from the rise in anti-Semitism over the last 20 months is that embedding an official, government-approved definition of a particular form of racial or religious hatred in civic speech codes – and threatening people with penalties if they breach those codes – is a wholly inadequate way of tackling hatred and discrimination. 'Indeed, there is a risk that if the Government takes up your group's definition it will feel it has done something to address the problem when in fact it has not, and neglect other, more effective ways of tackling it.' The peers also demanded that the working group should make its recommendations to ministers public. They added: 'The definition, if it is taken up, will have wide-ranging implications for what people in public life, and those who work for public bodies, or attend schools or universities, are able to say about Muslims and the religion of Islam, with – inevitably – serious repercussions for those who fall foul of the definition, even if those repercussions fall short of criminal prosecution. 'Indeed, the Home Secretary has said she would like to see more 'Non-Crime Hate Incidents' (NCHIs) recorded against people guilty of 'Islamophobia' and, presumably, she will urge the police to operationalise your definition, once it's been taken up by the Government, as part of the NCHI regime.'
