Racial discrimination will plague the UK until government intervenes

Opinion piece from Dr Halima Begum on the Euros racism and the launch of the civil society report to the United Nations, curated by the Runnymede Trust.

This week the country united in its condemnation of the racist abuse meted out to the footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. Despite these young black men helping to get England to the final of the European Championships, they were subjected to abuse from strangers on social media and a mural to Rashford was defaced in Manchester. These despicable acts reveal once again how far the UK still has to go to overcome racism.

We should remember this week as one of potentially seismic change in how England responds to the continued challenge of racism. If we were less focused on contrived culture wars, we would see the empathetic values of this country. Southgate and his players blurred the notion of Englishness to one of civic rather than ethnic identity — a feat as significant as any victory in the final. And one which we — and our leaders — should strive to emulate.

Read the full article with the Financial Times

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Dr Halima Begum is CEO of the Runnymede Trust.