Abimbola Johnson criticized Chris Philp's remarks on police anti-racism efforts as disingenuous, highlighting Philp's lack of engagement with the Race Action Plan during his tenure. The comments follow the tragic death of Henry Nowak, which has sparked riots in Southampton.
Key points
Abimbola Johnson criticized Chris Philp's remarks
Philp never engaged with the Race Action Plan
Keir Starmer felt sick watching Nowak's death footage
Riots occurred in Southampton following Nowak's murder
Last night Abimbola Johnson, a barrister who chairs the independent scrutiny and oversight board for the police Race Action Plan, told Radio 4’s the World Tonight that he thought Chris Philp’s criticism of the police anti-racism commitment (see 8.19am) was “disingenuous”. He claimed that when Philp was policing minister
The chair of the oversight board that scrutinised the Police Race Action Plan has said Chris Philp’s criticism of the police’s policy is ‘disingenuous’ and that he never raised concerns with the plan when he was policing minister from 2022 to 2024. Johnson said:
double quotation markFor [Philp] to take umbrage at the idea that there is a commitment to reduce disparities in arrest rates and use of force is disingenuous.
And I would also highlight that when the Conservative government were in power and Chris Philp was the policing minister, not once did he meet with the Race Action Plan, not once did he bring any legitimate concerns that he may have had around that and involve himself in any constructive conversations about it.
Good morning. Keir Starmer spoke for many people yesterday when he said that he felt “sick” watching the video of Henry Nowak being handcuffed as he lay dying, while a police officer who had been told Nowak had committed a racist assault ignored Nowak saying he had been stabbed. Starmer’s was a good faith response to the tragedy, which saw Nowak’s killer jailed for life on Monday.
But there have been plenty of bad faith responses to the murder too, which culminated in rioting in Southampton last night. Here is our overnight story about yesterday’s events.
And here is **Steven Morris’**s report on the rioting.
Sarah Jones, the policing minister, has been giving interviews this morning. Speaking to Times Radio, she said the rioting was unacceptable and she said there had been two arrests, “one for assault of a police officer, one for possession of a weapon”.
Q&A
What did Abimbola Johnson say about Chris Philp's criticism of the police?
Abimbola Johnson called Chris Philp's criticism of the police's anti-racism commitment disingenuous, noting Philp never raised concerns during his time as policing minister.
Why did Keir Starmer feel sick regarding Henry Nowak's death?
Keir Starmer expressed feeling sick after watching footage of Henry Nowak being handcuffed while dying, as police ignored his claims of having been stabbed.
What events led to rioting in Southampton?
Rioting in Southampton was triggered by public outrage over the murder of Henry Nowak and the police's handling of the situation.
What was the outcome for Henry Nowak's killer?
Henry Nowak's killer was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
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She also appealled for calm, saying:
double quotation markWe are urging that people take the anger that they feel, which I understand, but let’s allow justice to do its course, and let’s not over-react, which indeed is what the family are asking us to do as well.”
In her interviews this morning, Jones also said the government wanted an official “police anti-racism commitment” reviewed. In the Commons yesterday Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, saying that this document was “morally wrong”, claiming that it “urges police forces to reverse engineer the same arrest rates between ethnic groups, even though the offending rates are different, by treating different ethnic groups differently”. (In fact it does not say that, although arguably that it what its call for “equality of policing outcomes for people from different ethnic groups” implies.) In the Commons Mahmood gave a non-committal response to Philp. But now the Home Office wants it reconsidered
Asked about the document, Jones told BBC Breakfast that the National Police Chiefs’ Council were reviewing the document. She went on:
double quotation markWe don’t think that language is is right.
It is right to say, and it is important to say, that there is … a long history of racism in policing that we need to acknowledge, and we need to make sure isn’t there.
Of course, in all the training that is done with police officers, it’s an aspect that they are trained on.
This document feels like it’s not right, and I think it’s right that the NPCC are reviewing it.
After 12.30pm: MPs hold a debate on the Peter Mandelson files released on Monday.
2.30pm: Scientists and experts from the Climate Change Committee and other bodies give evidence to the Commons environmental audit committee on extreme weather.
3.30pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is speaking at at the Creating a Scientific Superpower Conference on the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.
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