Ministers face backlash after claiming Britain is not racist

Black MPs and campaigners hit out after attempt to downplay Black Lives Matter protests

Senior black politicians and campaigners have rounded on the government for suggesting the UK is not racist and for claiming that the Black Lives Matter protests across the country are simply based on anger about prejudice in the US.

David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, said it was “real ignorance” to suggest that the protesters were angry only about police brutality in the US rather than discrimination in the UK as well, while Dawn Butler, a Labour former minister, said suggestions that the protests largely related to America were a sign that the government was “again not listening and shows no commitment to resolving the issues of racism in our own country”.

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