Labour race row

Published on Saturday 8 November 2008 19:16

BARACK Obama would never have become Britain's Prime Minister because of "institutional racism" in the Labour Party, the head of Britain's equality watchdog has claimed.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "If Barack Obama had lived here I would be very surprised if even somebody as brilliant as him would have been able to break through the institutional stranglehold that there is on power within the Labour Party."

Phillips said the Conservative Party had made more progress when it came to its selection procedures than Labour.

He said: "The parties and unions and think-tanks are all very happy to sign up to the general idea of advancing the cause of minorities but in practice they would like somebody else to do the business. It's institutional racism."

He added that he opposed all-black shortlists but said "positive action" was needed by all parties.

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader and party chairman, said Phillips' remarks were "wrong".

Speaking at Labour's Eastern regional conference, Harman said:

"Labour is the party that has championed equality. It was Labour MPs who broke down the barriers, starting with Bernie Grant, Keith Vaz and Diane Abbott, and now with six times more black and Asian MPs than all the other parties put together. But our pledge is full representation which means four times more black and Asian MPs."

Phillips' views were supported by Adam Afriyie, Conservative MP for Windsor, who said he did not believe he would see a black PM in his lifetime.

But Sadiq Khan, Labour MP for Tooting, disagreed and predicted a black or Asian Labour politician would rise to the highest office in the land.

A Labour Party statement in response to Phillips' claims said it continually reviewed its procedures to ensure its elected positions reflected British society.

Obama, who is destined to become first black president of the US, yesterday said it was time for Americans to put aside political differences and work together to solve the economic crisis. Obama revealed that Republican President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush had invited him and his wife Michelle to the White House, and said they had offered to do all they could to help with Obama's transition to the White House.

"This speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America we can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other's ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done," Obama said.

Palin 'caused rise in death threats'

Sarah Palin's accusation that Barack Obama was "palling around with terrorists" may have led to a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the US President-elect, it emerged yesterday.

Palin's comments, citing Obama's association with the Sixties radical William Ayers, provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But her words may have encouraged white supremacists to go even further. The US Secret Service warned the Obama family last month that they had seen a rise in threats against Obama, coinciding with Palin's attacks.

The revelations, contained in a Newsweek article, are likely to damage Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate.

Yesterday, the bookmaker William Hill said it had turned away gamblers hoping to bet on Obama being assassinated.