Those charged in cases involving rap evidence - including those charged with murder under secondary liability laws, which carries a life sentence - tend to be young and Black, suggesting that these groups are being targeted disproportionately. This lends weight to those who see the rising use of rap in cases as systematically racist, and who are raising the alarm about the overcriminalisation of young people - including children.

“Our findings are deeply troubling, and support the view that the marshalling of rap evidence in criminal cases encourages police and prosecutors to further increase the number of people charged as secondaries under already-egregious secondary liability laws,” said Eithne Quinn, Professor of Cultural and Socio-Legal Studies, The University of Manchester.

“Once again, three of the best researchers on the subject are doing what the state refuses to do,” said Liz Fekete, Director of the Institute of Race Relations. “They have scrutinised the data on rap prosecutions, exposed the racism that lies within the law - particularly the joint enterprise doctrine - and suggested targeted reforms to end the wide-ranging criminalisation of Black expressive culture.”

“Rap music is one of the most popular genres of music in the UK – it’s time to end the marginalisation and punishment of its creators through its use as prosecution evidence. JUSTICE welcomes this important and timely report and its recommendations, which will undoubtedly help tackle the corrosive practice of portraying a genre of music as innately illegal and dangerous”, said Tyrone Steele, Deputy Legal Director, JUSTICE. 

The report can be read in full at  

 

The paper, commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and published in , builds on research already completed by both institutions during the pandemic which demonstrated that ethnic minority groups were disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

The paper brings together all of the available evidence, along with international experts in the field, to summarise why people from ethnic minority groups were more likely to be infected and die during the pandemic.

Researchers highlighted that ethnic minority groups were more likely to be exposed to those who were infectious with COVID-19 because a high proportion were employed in key worker roles, making it more likely that they would themselves become infected. They also showed that certain ethnic minority groups were more likely to die once infected due to barriers in receiving adequate healthcare, such as delayed diagnosis and treatment due to job insecurity and financial issues, and in some cases language barriers.

In addition, the research showed they were more likely to suffer from social and economic consequences – for example the inability to isolate once infected and in some cases the lack of adequate healthcare to meet their needs.

The authors state that ethnic minority groups were disadvantaged from the start due to longstanding health inequities caused by systemic racism and racial discrimination. Furthermore, the reasons for ethnic inequities in COVID-19 infection, severe disease and death are interconnected.

The paper aims to provide a blueprint for policymakers and researchers to address these inequities so that they can be better prepared for future pandemics.

It states that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to intervention does not work and that cultural, social and language barriers must be overcome along with other socio-economic issues.

“This framework is the first of its kind to specifically address inequities during a pandemic,” said Dr Daniel Pan from the University of Leicester, the paper’s co-lead author who is a specialist registrar in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine and a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellow. “The recommendations aim to ensure ethnic inequalities in treatment do not occur in future.

“The COVID-19 pandemic won’t be the last and steps need to be taken now to reduce the inevitable consequences of the next pandemic on ethnic minority groups. We know that innovative approaches are required but if we plan for these, they can be overcome.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and amplified health inequalities for ethnic minority groups,” said Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases Manish Pareek from the University of Leicester, the paper’s senior author.

“It is important that we learn lessons from the pandemic and this work, in collaboration with international experts and the WHO, provides guidance on how to reduce the disproportionate impact on ethnic minority groups for future pandemics.”

That same month, , a healthcare manager and senior nurse, won a case against NHS England and NHS Improvement Commissioning in 91ֱ��. She too had faced racial discrimination.

These cases follow the legal action launched in August 2022 by marketing executive against the NHS Blood and Transplant service. She provided recordings of conversations between staff members that backed up her claims that she had been subjected to racism.

According to , black and minority ethnic women are the most likely of all NHS staff groups to experience discrimination from patients or colleagues. The harms they experience due to in the workplace are compounded by their ethnicity.

My doctoral research looks at the obstacles black and minority ethnic women face in the NHS in terms of career development. In the chapter I recently contributed to the (edited by Naomi Chambers), I show how systemic discrimination is the single biggest impediment to these women being able to advance in their jobs.

The barriers to career progression

There is a notable lack of research on the workplace experiences of black and minority ethnic women leaders in healthcare. In 2021 I carried out a literature review to address this.

I identified eight barriers or drivers (often two sides of the same coin) to career progression for this group. These are: systemic discrimination; leadership and organisational cultures; recruitment and talent management; policies; training; monitoring and accountability; work-life balance; and support.

Systemic discrimination, the most pervasive impediment, refers to discrimination embedded in institutional policies, practices or processes, as opposed to the actions of individual people.

Research has long shown systemic discrimination at work in the NHS. In 2016, minority ethnic NHS staff were to enter formal disciplinary processes than white staff. More recently, a 2022 report by the Fawcett Society and the Runnymede Trust charities that women of colour are more likely (27%) to have been described as aggressive compared to white women (17%).

A , published in April 2023 looked at a large sample (37,971) of people applying for specialist NHS training posts (medical and surgical) between 2021 and 2022. It found that applicants from most of the ethnic minority groups were less successful than their white British counterparts. It pointed to recruitment policies and processes as key factors driving this inequality.

In addition to the racism and sexism often experienced by ethnic minority women more broadly, black women, in particular, also have to contend with anti-blackness.

In 2010, the black feminist scholar Moya Bailey and the writer who goes by the name Trudy coined the term “” – anti-black misogyny – to describe this compounded discrimination. It amounts, as the US legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in a landmark paper in 1989, to a form of erasure – being fundamentally overlooked by society.

shows that little has changed. Black women are subject to a wider range of microaggressions in the workplace. They are often the only black woman in any given setting. And they are three times more likely than their peers to think regularly about leaving their jobs.

Barriers and drivers of career progression for black and minority ethnic women leaders in UK healthcare. Rakhi Chand,

How discrimination is compounded

In the UK, this compounded discrimination is further exacerbated by, among other things, being a migrant or having a non-standard British accent. can lead to employees receiving poorer pay, having limited access to professional networks, or fewer chances of promotion. Here too, it can see people more likely to leave their jobs.

This often has a negative impact on an employee’s and too. The long-term physical problems it can lead to include increased blood pressure and heart rates, higher levels of the primary stress hormone cortisol, and unhealthy behaviours such as drinking alcohol or smoking.

Line managers are uniquely placed to influence an employee’s emotional attachment to an organisation. Research shows that their support – including for training and advancement opportunities – can be pivotal in decisions to leave or, conversely to stay in a role or even the organisation.

However, research has long noted the lack of diversity in healthcare leadership. A on equality in the NHS workforce found that black and minority ethnic executives were “entirely” absent, and women “disproportionately” absent, from the boards of all key NHS national bodies in 2013.

To remedy this situation, academics and practitioners alike have repeatedly called for better reporting on gender data, broken down by ethnicity, within healthcare management.

Yet, until the publication of the Workforce Race Equality Standard report in 2022, this appears to not have happened within the NHS. Not having access to such data is a problem. has long shown that when a healthcare workforce does not reflect the population it serves, patients’ health outcomes worsen as a result.

The fact that black and minority ethnic women are under-represented at leadership levels is, of course, to the healthcare sphere. It is also .

Anyone wanting to improve diversity and inclusion within their workforce must engage with the obstacles that black and ethnic minority women face. Addressing inequality benefits everyone.

, Doctoral Researcher

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

During this period, over 45% of people from the Arab, Any Other Black background, Any Other Mixed background, Any Other background, and Roma groups reported being in financial difficulty.

Michaela Šť�����ٲ�á, from The University of St Andrews, said “Importantly, our data uncovers inequalities experienced by people from certain ethnic groups who are missing from, or invisible in, the Census or other national surveys, especially some of the smaller ethnic groups such as Roma, Gypsy/Traveller, Arab and ‘Other’ ethnic groups. People from Roma and Gypsy/Traveller backgrounds are one of the groups often missing from survey data. Yet this new dataset shows that they face the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation: they much more likely to have no educational qualifications, less likely to have better paid jobs and have some of the highest rates of financial hardship.”

Professor Nissa Finney, from the University of St Andrews, said “We are excited to be able to share our unique dataset. It is a one-of-a-kind survey which goes into more detail and more depth on the experiences of people from ethnic minority groups in Britain than any other survey. We encourage all researchers and policymakers to access it and use it to reduce ethnic inequalities.”

The new dataset is from , the largest survey of ethnic and religious inequalities in Britain during the pandemic. EVENS documents patterns of ethnic inequality in health, housing, employment, income and education and the is freely available from UK Data Service.

Gemma Hakins, Acting Director of Data Access, UK Data Service, said “We are delighted to provide free research access to CODE’s EVENS Survey through the UK Data Service. These new data are a first in providing detailed evidence on how ethnicity shapes the lives of people across the UK. We welcome the insights they give researchers and policy developers to help enable greater ethnic equality in the future.”

Helen Snelson, Curriculum Area Leader PGCE History at the University of York, said: "As this research has discovered, history teacher educators are working to develop more inclusive curricula, teaching practices and pedagogies. This nuanced, evidence-based report is a very welcome focus on these efforts and the issues that are hindering more, and more rapid, progress. It will be incredibly useful to inform discussions at all levels as to how we can work together to develop more systemic, effective, informed and creative approaches to ensure a more diverse profession, curriculum and practice. Inaction is not an option in the context of a teacher recruitment crisis and the daily realities of teaching history in schools." 

The (EVENS) is a major new survey of racism and ethnic inequalities carried out by the (CoDE). It polled 14,200 participants between February and October 2021 and asked people to rate how interested they were in politics.

The results could prove pivotal in the forthcoming elections, particularly in light of how the leading political parties are positioning themselves on matters of interest to these groups. 

Whilst 60% of White British, White Eastern European and Gypsy/Traveller groups said they were ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ interested in politics, the level of political interest amongst some ethnic and religious minority groups was much higher. For example, the level of political interest was closer to 80% amongst Black African (78%), Mixed White and Black African (78%), Any other mixed background (77%), Indian (77%), Jewish (81%), and White Irish (83%) groups. Just one in three Roma people (31%) said they were interested in politics.

“The relatively high political interest amongst most ethnic minority groups clearly shows that political parties need to seriously engage with the ethnic minority electorate, and their particular needs and concerns” said Dr Magda Borkowska, University of Essex and part of the EVENS research team. “As demographic change means that the population of ethnic minorities will grow, the ethnic minority vote will increasingly matter for election results.”

“Despite many people from ethnic and religious minorities reporting high levels of interest in politics, we also know that society is not addressing the basic equality needs for many people from minority groups,” said Professor James Nazroo, The University of Manchester and part of the EVENS research team. “Our research also found many minority groups were experiencing widespread racism, and unacceptable inequalities in health, housing and employment. Now we have this data, we encourage politicians to use it as a tool for reducing inequality.”

The survey also asked if people had a preference for a particular political party. Around three quarters (73%) of White British people said they preferred a particular political party, alongside 79% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani people, and 80% of Jewish people. Rates were lower for some groups, with 62% of people identifying as Mixed White and Asian, and 63% of people identifying as White Eastern European indicating a party they would vote for. One in three (33%) Roma people indicated a party preference.

The highest support for Labour was from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African and Black Caribbean people, at over 60% of each group. Half of Jewish respondents said they would vote Conservative, but just 14% of Black Caribbean respondents said the same. The Liberal Democrats got the highest level of support from White Eastern European, Chinese, and White Other groups (between 20-30% of respondents from each group). In comparison, among the White British respondents, 35% supported Labour, 35% Conservative, 10% Liberal Democrat and 20% other parties.

“EVENS is the first nationally representative study since 2010 that allows for detailed analysis of political interest and preference in ethnic and religious minority groups,” said Professor Nissa Finney, University of St Andrews and part of the EVENS research team. “The innovative, robust survey techniques used mean we have a larger, more detailed dataset on people from ethnic and religious minority groups living in Britain than ever before.”

EVENS, funded by the , is the most comprehensive survey of ethnic and religious inequalities in Britain for over 25 years. It is produced in partnership with 13 voluntary, community and social enterprise groups. 

Results from EVENS are available in a new open access book , which is available in print, e-book and as a free PDF. The book will be in 91ֱ�� on Friday 12 May and the full dataset will be available in June 2023.

“The EVENS survey allows us to obtain a deeper understanding of the insidiousness and persistence of racial discrimination in the UK,” said Professor Laia Bécares, Professor of Social Science and Health at King’s College London. “We clearly document that there is a high level of racism in the UK which permeates all aspects of people’s everyday lives and impacts their health, wellbeing, and socioeconomic circumstances.” 

“The innovative, robust survey techniques we used mean we have a larger dataset and detailed data on more ethnic and religious minority groups across a wider range of topics than ever before,” said Professor Nissa Finney, Professor of Human Geography at the University of St Andrews. “This makes our data a powerful tool for understanding, and reducing, ethnic and religious inequalities.”

“It can be easy to look back on the violent, explicit racism of earlier decades and think that racial discrimination is not a major problem in Britain today, but our data proves this idea wrong,” said Professor James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology at The University of Manchester. “Now we have this evidence, it is simply not acceptable to pretend racism does not exist and to carry on as before - EVENS is a wake-up call to make society fairer for everybody.” 

EVENS is the most comprehensive survey of ethnic and religious inequalities for over 25 years, and was supported by the Economics and Social Research Council (ES/V013475/1 and ES/ W000849/1). It was produced in partnership with 13 voluntary, community and social enterprise groups. 

Results from EVENS are available in a new book available in print, e-book and free pdf. The full will be made available in May.

"Action to embed compulsory antiracist and racial bias training for all judicial office holders, which is a key recommendation of the report, would encourage a culture shift towards antiracist practice," he added.

“We welcome David’s support for our report, given his long-standing record of campaigning and policy development on these issues,” said Professor Eithne Quinn, lead academic author of the report. “His comments add weight to our central finding: racism in the justice system is corroding principles of fairness and ruining lives. Yet, our survey found that many judges and lawyers have had no recent training about racism and bias.”

“Our report calls for training that is premised on the realities that institutional racism exists in the justice system and that judges, like the rest of us, harbour biases. Without this starting point, any new training won’t work.”

Through its partnership with HyperionDev, the DfE is offering over 1,400 potential learners the chance to enrol in a government-funded online coding boot camp.

These coding boot camps in Data Science, Software Engineering and Full-Stack Web Development, which can be completed within just 16 weeks, give learners a non-degree certificate from HyperionDev - with limited certifications issued in partnership with The University of Manchester and University of Nottingham Online.

Professor Danielle George, Associate Vice President Blended and Flexible Learning at The University of Manchester said: “Our new partnership with HyperionDev will make a significant contribution in addressing the national digital skills gap. Learning to code through boot camps aligns with our Flexible Learning Strategy and our commitment to prepare young people for an increasingly digital, interconnected and intercultural world.”

Riaz Moola, founder and CEO of HyperionDev says: "According to the UK government 2021 report “Quantifying the UK Data Skills Gap”, 48% of UK businesses were recruiting for roles requiring data skills. Of those, around 46% are struggling to find suitable candidates, meaning that there is a huge skills gap in this area. In the current economic crisis, the ability to code could significantly improve present and future employees' salary expectations. I strongly believe that accessible tech education is the future of upward social mobility for tens of thousands of people across the globe.” 

In a competitive job market, skills such as coding have become crucial both for young people and for experienced professionals looking to reorient their careers. According to Tech Nation’s “People and Skills” 2022 report, tech salaries in the UK are on average nearly 80% higher than non-tech salaries. This reality has increased demand for boot camps such as those designed and delivered by HyperionDev, which has expanded its operations significantly to keep up with the demand for its services. 

The HyperionDev programming boot camp courses are targeted at individuals who are looking to give their careers a boost, explore other career paths or to keep up-to-date with the latest job market requirements. They can generally be completed within three to six months and have been designed to help learners become fully-fledged developers, whether they are from a tech background or not. All students have a specifically designated mentor to help them adapt their level to the courses and advise them on their future professional development. 

The briefing was also written by Professor James Nazroo and Dr Patricia Irizar of The University of Manchester, as well as Dr Richard Shaw of the University of Glasgow. It draws on a longer article published in , and is part of a by the Runnymede Trust and the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) on the impact of COVID-19 on people from ethnic minority groups.

About the Economic and Social Research Council 

The Economic and Social Research Council () is part of UK Research and Innovation (), a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. We fund world-leading research, data and post-graduate training in the economic, behavioural, social and data sciences to understand people and the world around us. Our work helps raise productivity, address climate change, improve public services and generate a prosperous, inclusive, healthy and secure society.  

“This important report demonstrates that the very low number of Black and minority ethnic judges poses an acute challenge to the credibility and legitimacy of the judiciary,” said Stephanie Needleman from . “It is only by creating a critical mass of diverse judges that we can ensure that our judiciary is reflective of society and begin to combat the racism witnessed by survey respondents.”  

“We welcome, and are grateful to have been consulted on, this hard-hitting report,” said former Judge Claire Gilham from the “My whistleblowing about racism was dismissed as me not understanding judicial culture, having come from the wrong background. There is no internal data keeping for equality complaints, which makes it very difficult for the judiciary to provide any evidence to deny the findings of this report. A severe shake-up of the system is needed.”  

“Even after 25 years as a Trade Union Official, I am shocked at the practices employed in the appointment and promotion of judges,” said Stuart Fegan from GMB. “The Judiciary is funded with public money, and the practices identified would simply not be tolerated anywhere else in the public sector. I am delighted that Labour have committed to review appointment and promotion procedures if they win the next election in order to ensure that judges are reflective of the public they serve.”

“The creative and cultural industries were already the site of fundamental race and ethnic inequalities, and our findings suggest that the pandemic has deepened them,” said Professor Bridget Byrne from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity. “This sector is critical not only for its contribution to the economy, but also because it shapes the cultural life of the country - this is why structural racism faced within the sector is so concerning.”

“We need action within individual organisations, but also more broadly at a policy level to both collect the data needed to track ethnic inequalities and also to implement proactive actions to ensure that ethnically diverse people have fair access to training, jobs and promotion within the sector.”

"Clearly, the Covid pandemic hit everyone who works in creative and cultural industries - but it also exasperated existing inequalities in this sector,” said Dr Anamik Saha from the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity and Goldsmiths, University of London. “While media and cultural organisations were quick to pronounce their support for the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred during the pandemic, our research found this translated into relatively few new opportunities for Black people in particular.”

“Our hope is that in shining a light on their circumstances, media and cultural organisations can better support creative workers from minoritised communities, ensuring fair and equal treatment during these difficult times.”

“On the second anniversary of the pandemic, we are seeing yet further proof of the disproportionate impact of covid on people from groups under-represented in the creative industries in terms of ethnicity. With the huge loss of funding, income and job opportunities in the sector, it’s critical that organisations like ours work with employer partners to ensure that people from these communities do not lose out on career access or progression as a result,” says Josie Dobrin, founder and CEO, Creative Access.

To read the full report, visit

“It is clear that existing evidence on the stark health inequalities faced by ethnic minority communities has not led to significant change - this is why the Observatory has been established: to synthesise what already exists, translate it into actionable policy recommendations, and to challenge leaders to act,” said Dr Habib Naqvi, Director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory. 

“This report should be a tool for them; highlighting the best quality evidence and making concrete recommendations for change. By drawing together the evidence, and plugging the gaps where we find them, we have made a clear and overwhelming case for radical action on race inequity in our healthcare system.”

• Having reopened, Bangladeshi restaurants are currently experiencing trade at 10-30% of turnover compared to previous years.
• Since 2014, 17 restaurants have closed with only 18 operating in Brick Lane in 2021, down from a high of 35.
• In April 2021, over a quarter of shops had closed (29%). This compares to a figure of 9% in 2019.
• At the time of the study, only 56% of shops remained open, many of them operating under reduced hours or by appointment only.
• 83% of those surveyed stated that they had received some form of government assistance in order to remain in business.

The briefing raises concern over the effect of Covid on ethnically diverse high streets nationally, and offers some recommendations for how best to mitigate the risk to these communities.

"As we come out of lockdown, there are important discussions about how we reinvigorate our small and independent retail sector and give new life to our high streets, how we support the people who own and work in these businesses, and their significance for those who rely on them for goods and services," added fellow co-author Professor Claire Alexander.

The briefing can be .

The panel will include Ray Barnett, Head of Collections and Archives at Bristol Museums, Dr Sadia Habib of The University of Manchester and Dr Joanna Burch-Brown of the University of Bristol. They will be joined by members of Manchester Museum’s Our Shared Cultural Heritage Young Collective who participated in ‘Whose Statues? Whose Stories?’, a series of online workshops led by Dr Habib that brought together young people, researchers and spoken word artists to examine monuments in their local areas and produce creative responses.

Commenting on the event Professor John McAuliffe, Director of Creative 91ֱ��, says, “Creative 91ֱ�� works with researchers at the University and external partners to develop the crucial evidence base we need to address ideas at the heart of contemporary culture: we are delighted to be bringing together key figures at events like this which will drive productive new conversations, not just in 91ֱ�� and Bristol, but nationally too.”

The event builds on the findings of The University of Manchester’s ESRC-funded research project on ‘The Changing Shape of Cultural Activism'. Under the auspices of the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE), the project examined global activism against the presence of statues that commemorate colonisers and slave traders. The project team, including former Guardian editor-at-large Professor Gary Younge, investigated local and national policy approaches to this transnational issue and has made a series of recommendations for UK policymakers.

Tickets are available for the of the event, or to book to attend .

The report, titled A threat to public safety: policing, racism and the Covid-19 pandemic, argues that lockdown conditions, new police powers, and histories of institutionally racist policing have combined to pose a threat to already over-policed communities, and the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society.

Published by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), and authored by academics from the

Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) based at the University of Manchester, the report is published in the context of increased scrutiny around policing, particularly following significant mobilisations under the banner of Black Lives Matter and ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstrations against the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill.

Researchers spoke to members of the public from across England to talk about their experiences of coronavirus policing and found evidence of police consistently failing to use PPE or observe social distancing regulations, with a pregnant woman describing an encounter where officers refused to wear masks when asked. Such practices, the authors argue, completely undermine any public health approach to the pandemic, and highlight how – with regard to the transmission of Covid-19 - the police pose a health risk to members of the public.

The report’s lead author Dr Scarlet Harris said:

‘The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a period of extraordinary police powers which arrived in a broader context of racist over-policing and police violence. This report draws on extensive conversations with people from racially minoritised groups and communities living across England over the course of the pandemic. The findings dismantle the myth that the police contribute to public safety. Instead, they demonstrate how policing such a ‘crisis’ has reproduced profound harms for those from racially minoritised groups and communities.’

Remi Joseph-Salisbury, another of the report’s authors, said:

‘The evidence in this report really urges us to question the State’s reliance on the police to solve social and public health problems. Despite being central to the government’s handling of the pandemic, policing too often threatens rather than protects public safety, particularly for people of colour.’

Liz Fekete, Director of the IRR said:

‘This research gives a voice to those who have had uncivil, discriminatory or brutal encounters with the police and points to the dangers that the public health model poses for “policing by consent”. The evidence of the over-policed reveals that those who argue that mistrust of the police is based on hearsay, myth-making and a victim mentality, are hopelessly out of touch.’

EVENS is partnering with a diverse range of Voluntary and Community Sector organisations, including Operation Black Vote (OBV), the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), The Ubele Initiative, the Stuart Hall Foundation, EYST (Wales), Migrants’ Rights Network, BEMIS (Scotland), the Race Equality Foundation and Business in the Community, who will assist with the recruitment drive.

Zara Mohammed, the new Elected Secretary General, MCB, said: “EVENS will benefit society as a whole because it will be a snapshot of people’s experiences and point out where something needs to be done. It also aims to reach out to Muslim respondents to a far greater degree and with a wider range of questions affecting their daily lives than other social surveys. Even before the Covid crisis, the MCB was highlighting poorer health among elderly Muslim women, and for some time now, we have been collecting evidence of Islamophobia. EVENS will provide comprehensive, evidence-based and up to date information to better highlight and address such inequalities and forms of discrimination.”

Ellie Rogers, CEO of Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange (Leeds GATE), said: “Gypsies and Travellers have some very important cultural practices that we could all learn from. Especially when it comes to the ways in which communities turn up for each other and the respect they show, especially in death and mourning. During Covid, I have seen some dehumanising responses to people who are in a very vulnerable place due to losing a loved one. Instead of valuing the communities’ assets and working with them, they have been demonised and made out to be criminals. Through the survey, I want people's experiences to be seen, heard and respected.”

Dr Nissa Finney added: “When published, EVENS will help place ethnic inequalities and racism firmly on the political and policy agenda in an enduring manner. The data will be freely available and can be used by anyone, from our VCSE partners, activists and politicians to policymakers, campaigners, NGOs and Experts by Experience in the UK. As well as showing us what the key problems of disadvantage and inequality are for particular groups, we want people to be able to evidence the inequalities and how they should be addressed.”

To take part, register at or call 0808 129 6800. For more information, visit . 

Ethnic minority people experience a much higher risk of COVID-19-related death - a stark inequality that impacts on all ethnic minority groups. Ethnic minorities are also at increased risk of complications and mortality post COVID-19 infection.

There has been much discussion of what might be driving ethnic inequalities in infections and outcomes - these include speculative approaches which question whether inequalities might be due to genetic or ‘cultural’ differences.

There is no evidence for genetic or genetically-related biological factors underlying this increased risk, including vitamin D deficiency. Greater risk is more likely to be the result of pre-existing social and economic inequalities manifesting in the form of chronic illness.

These inequalities reflect increased risk of exposure to the virus because of where people live, the type of accommodation they live in, household size, the types of jobs they do and the means of transport they use to get to work.

Unless racism is understood as a key driver of the inequalities which increase the chances of exposure to and mortality from COVID-19, government and public sector policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic risk further increasing ethnic inequalities in the UK.

The report recommends that the government should:

• Commission further research which identifies how racial discrimination in housing, health services, employment and criminal justice have affected the health outcomes of black and ethnic minority communities.

• Immediately conduct Equality Impact Assessments on all government actions in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, ensure that these include recommendations for action to minimise inequalities, do this in consultation with the groups affected, and act on the resulting recommendations.

• Immediately strengthen the social security safety net to mitigate the impact of social and economic inequalities on the health of ethnic minority people, paying particular attention to the increased risks they face in employment, education, economic security and housing.

• Increase Statutory Sick Pay and widen eligibility for it, including extending it to those who are not currently eligible because of low or intermittent pay and zero-hours contracts and to cover those in quarantine.

• Scrap the No Recourse to Public Funds condition imposed on migrants with limited, or without, leave to remain, in order to ensure that they have access to healthcare and the social security and housing support necessary to allow them to socially isolate.

• Issue a public information campaign to ensure that everyone is aware of the government’s exemption from charging for Covid-19 healthcare treatment and stopping immigration checks as part of their public health response to the pandemic.

• Ensure that all workers have access to personal protective equipment to address the documented greater difficulties that ethnic minority workers have had in accessing this.

• Ensure suitable, secure accommodation and housing for people who live in overcrowded housing and/or intergenerational households, and who need to self-isolate or shield.

• Establish a wide-ranging, well-resourced and independent inquiry into ethnic inequalities in health, which includes COVID-19 in its scope and moves beyond a focus on explanation to one that provides detailed recommendations to address fundamental causes.

The full report is available to view .