From left: William Houngbo, Cllr Rachel Bentley, Bishop of Southwark, Roderick Lynch and Sir Simon Hughes at the service at Southwark Cathedral
I commend Lib Dem Diversity Leader William Houngbo for putting on an event in Parliament (Floella Benjamin marks Windrush Day with event in Parliament) with Nicole Turner, the Diversity Manager from LD HQ.
Baroness Benjamin, a Liberal Democrat, gave an emotional yet powerful speech. She is a true Windrush veteran with an evil wicked racist story to tell; a story that moved me to tears.
Floella told members of the black business community the benefits of becoming a member or a supporter of the Liberal Democrats. I concur with all what she had said. However, where I depart from what was rightly glowingly said, I am scornful of the lack of engagement with the minority communities across the United Kingdom, especially the black community.
Members of the black community are looking for a political home, they need an alternative. We as a party are not engaging with them in meaningful numbers.
Lord John Alderdice and Baroness Dorothy Thornhill chaired two recent reviews, and recommendations were made. What has happened since then? You tell me if you have taken on board any of those recommendations locally. Somehow, after listening to the chatter of some of the party activists, I don’t think so.
If we wish to look like the people we wish to represent then we also have to talk and listen to them.
The General Election Review of 2019 had 240 submissions and after the reading of 22,000 emails it was quite clear from the responses that lack of engaging with the minority communities is costing us dearly at the ballot box. That came across loud and clear.
The 75th Windrush Anniversary has shown the contribution that Afro-Caribbean people have made to the United Kingdom since the Empire Windrush Docked at Tilbury Docks in 1948.
The King and Queen have shown what engagement with the black community means by attending various events..
Numerous events across the U.K. have been held in commemoration of the Windrush black community. What has been our official input? – none. Or nothing I’m aware of.
The National Windrush 75th Anniversary Service was held at Southwark Cathedral. Southwark being one of the most diverse communities in the country. Conservatives and Labour had senior politicians in the congregation. Labour had the majority share: David Lammy, Yvette Cooper, Dawn Butler, Sadiq Khan plus another three others.
No senior Lib Dem Politicians in the congregation. Even the King Charles sent representatives to this event.
There are some party members among us who take engagement with the minority communities seriously. Sir Simon Hughes, Cllr Irina Von Wiese, Cllr Rachel Bentley and William Houngbo (London Diversity Leader) along with myself were in attendance.
What did you do to mark the 75th Windrush Anniversary?
How many members of the Black Community have you signed up recently as a member or supporter?
Could you do more, do you need help? LDCRE is a good place to start.
* Roderick Lynch is Chair of the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Race Equality.
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10 Comments
True – a missed opportunity for the party here.
A wonderful article. Thank you for your two pence 🙂
I was in attendance at William Houngbo and Baroness Benjamins luncheon.
I’m so grateful for the invite and the chance to connect with like minded individuals who are here to make a difference improving lives for diasporites and society in general.
This day encouraged me to join the Lib Dem’s. I was enthralled and empowered by the journey Baroness Benjamin described for us. Such strength and resilience is testament to the Black British experience. I’m proud and elated to be amongst such strength honesty and love.
I look forward to future events; with the party, all the new friends I have made in the company of pioneers in this collective movement of peace and harmony.
Thank you.
Much appreciated
I agree with Roderick. It is shameful that no representatives from the political leadership team of our Party were present for such a landmark event as this. An event which means the life and soul of everything to these communities past and present. It is not good enough for the Party to preach racial equality. They need to demonstrate our commitment and solidarity by showing up to events like these. Yes, busy people have conflicting calendar calls but you have to prioritize and an event like the 75th WIndrush Anniversary should be a number one priority for any of our senior politicians in both the Commons and the Lords. The communities need to know that we are serious when we say we want to achieve racial equality.
Very disappointing but our party has become whiter, more male and more middle class in recent years. Quite frankly it’s disappointing especially when both Labour and the Tories are shysters on the topic or equalities. There is still no offer or USP that sets us apart from those others who have fallen into the middle and even less of a genuine focus on ethnic groups or other minorities.
Well done to all those who attended to mark a truly remarkable milestone in the journey and ‘staying power’ of those who responded our call for help and assistance in rebuilding post-war Britain. Their story remains as powerful and poignant today as it ever was before. We need to get our thinking caps back on ahead of important London elections if we are make a dent in the forthcoming campaign…we need members and supporters to step forward and contribute as candidates or activists. I see the BBC have finally broken their duck and gave its 50th Dimbleby Lecture to its first person of colour last week…the actor David Harewood who spoke vividly of the Windrush experience. E pluribus unum
Painful and important to hear the disappointment and concerns of so many wonderful colleagues here. Would also add that apart from 2005 the party has no knowledge of ever standing a parliamentary candidate with declared Romany, Gypsy or Traveller heritage.
Thank you William and Humaira in particular for all the political inspiration they have given Southwark’s political family (and my actual family for that matter 😊).
We definitely are on the same page Roderick.
It is completely concerning that some local parties avoid social events, or hide from positive actions to facilitate community engagement with the diverse minority ethnic groups residing in their respective boroughs.
Engaging with a diverse community is the best way to grow the party membership and generate more innovative policy ideas. It is our collective responsibility.
Thank you for all your comments here. It is time for action for what we are saying.
Let’s be more active to recruit active members from diverse backgrounds and Let’s walk the talk. I wish to add more; but I prefer to stop the talk here with these three words:
BE MORE ACTIVE!
75, is a special anniversary remembering the Windrush generation – a toxic scandal that resulted from the historic failure to properly document the status of pre-1973 arrivals to Britain.
The National Health Service will also reach the same milestone next month (5th July).
From the Windrush generation of 1948, the South Asian arrivals in the 1960s and 70s including many of my family members. Today, our NHS workforce represents over 200 nationalities – making up almost a quarter of the NHS workforce and 42% of medical staff.
The Windrush generation helped Britain recover from the economic impact of the Second World War from the postal to the transport systems and played a vital role in building the foundation of our health and social care system.
National Windrush Day, as 22 June has been officially known since 2018 is a time for ALL people to remember how a generation of people were affected by the Home Office’s callous bureaucracy.
To all those who truly want to commemorate the experiences of the Windrush generation there is always time – even for a political party.
We need only to look to the NHS which will continue to commemorate the Windrush generation with a number of events over the summer.
Great article Roderick,
I had the privilege of attending the wonderful Windrush 75 event hosted by Baroness Benjamin and William Houngbo, and like many others, I was deeply moved. The day was filled with a mix of joy, celebration, and acknowledgment of the struggles faced by the Afro caribbean community.
This experience compelled me to join the party, as I witnessed first hand the dedication and commitment from the team to creating a more inclusive party
However, I too share my disappointment in the lack of support and engagement from key members of the party during the Windrush 75th Anniversary Day event. As a new member, I am eager to understand and address these gaps to ensure meaningful representation and support for the Black community within the Liberal Democrats.
I don’t see any coverage for the LibDems in the ‘BME’ press (and I’m not counting Floella who generates her own coverage for her initiatives). At The Voice we proactively got a piece from Davey for our Windrush edition (https://www.voice-online.co.uk/opinion/comment/2023/06/20/ed-davey-they-played-a-vital-role-shaping-the-uk-into-a-multicultural-society/) in print and online. We also proactively secured an interview with Josh Barbarinde (https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2023/01/03/making-waves-beside-the-seaside/). The LibDems used to have a press officer position dedicated to ‘BME’, specialist and regional press. I know they tried to develop links with the sector, like any press officer should do.
I’m assuming this position no longer exists? We never get any press releases from the party, never had any proactive contact initiated from your side! I’m assuming the same is true of other ‘BME’ media outlets. You can’t rely on groups like LDCRE to generate your entire positive publicity for Black and Asian communities, that is unfair on them. We appear to be on the main press mailing list, but what works for ‘BME’ media is fewer, more targeted releases which you judge is of interest to the audience. Your party needs to have segmented lists generally for different interests. And also, if you still have a press officer who is responsible for this area, they should pick up the phone and introduce themselves.