Cllr Valerie Bossman-Quarshie is among campaigners who want Sir Keir Starmer (left) to speak on anti-black racism in the Labour Party
A COUNCILLOR is taking her fight against anti-black racism in the Labour Party to its annual conference this weekend.
Bunhill councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie is holding a “black members’ protest” in Liverpool as delegates arrive for the annual autumn get-together.It is in response to the recent publication of the Forde Report which suggested that both left and right wings of the party had used anti-Semitism as a “factional weapon”, with Labour “in effect operating a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination with other forms of racism and discrimination being ignored”.
The report said the black Labour MP Diane Abbott had been “vilified” by Labour staffers on the basis of the colour of her skin.
In response to the report, Cllr Bossman-Quarshie launched the Campaign Against Afriphobia (CAA) over the summer, along with Hackney North’s BAME officer Lucie Scott.
“The report has not been dealt with and we can’t keep putting things on the sidelines. Every form of racism is abhorrent and we need it all tackled,” Ms Bossman-Quarshie said this week.
While the report’s findings will not be formally addressed at Conference, Ms Bossman-Quarshie said “the fact that we’re going to conference to have a demonstration is going to add more weight behind our campaign”.
So far the CAA has organised protests outside Labour’s headquarters and in Parliament Square. The campaign is calling on leader Sir Keir Starmer to break his “silence” on the Forde Report and issue a public acknowledgement and apology to black members. The group is also calling for the report’s recommendations to be implemented immediately.
“We want our party to be politically electable, but we want Afriphobia to be dealt with just like all the other forms of racism within the party,” said Cllr Bossman-Quarshie.
“A lot of us are angry. We’re sad, we’re in pain, but coming together in Liverpool is going to make us stronger.”
