- The takeover was between 6 and 6.45pm on 3 December 2013. There were a huge amount of questions from Twitter, and during the takeover #AskStephenWilliams was used 80 times!
At 6pm I will "take over" the @EndRacismUK account to answer questions on racism and race equality. May be slow typing due to bad cold!
Hello this is Stephen logging in, ready for your questions. #AskStephenWilliams
- Stephen started with a broad question about what he hopes to do as the Minister for race equality.
@EndRacismUK What do you hope to achieve as Minister for Race Equality? #AskStephenWilliams- @RunnymedeTrust Open up many more opportunities for people from all backgrounds, in partic through learning and work. #stephenwilliams
- Users were worried about the government's approach to race equality, as evidenced by certain policies...
@EndRacismUK #askstephenwilliams under your government it seems that the only time #race is on the agenda is when its a negative such as con- @EndRacismUK #askstephenwilliams the go home vans in recent weeks. Day on day race is a dirty spoken word that everyone wants to deny.
- @EndRacismUK #askstephenwilliams as minister responsible for #race I think you should take a more prominent role in encouraging inclusion
- There was also concern about black and minority representation in the government. At the moment there are only 27 black and minority ethnic MP's out of a total of 650. There is only one ethnic minority member of the Cabinet, Baroness Warsi. As with every profession, ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the higher levels of the Civil Service.
@EndRacismUK #AskStephenWilliams given shortage of BME ppl in gov, civil service, how is gov ensuring it listens to issues affecting 8 mill- @omaromalleykhan I have attended a diversity internships event for the civil service. Currently, 31% of internships are from BAME.
@EndRacismUK @omaromalleykhan Excellent news but only 8% internships are BAME in London, which is disgraceful. Have to tackle private sector- There were concerns about institutional racism in the criminal justice system. A recent report produced by the Ministry of Justice, shows that black and Asian defendants are almost 20 per cent more likely to be sent to jail than those who are white. At the same time, the average prison sentence given to Caucasian criminals by courts in England and Wales is seven months shorter than those given to Afro-Caribbean offenders.
@EndRacismUK #askstephenwilliams what will u do 2 address race discrimination in the criminal justice system? @BARACUK- @zitaactivist @BARACUK CJS needs to be fair and just. Our action plan https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-the-criminal-justice-system … will tackle inequality in system.
- Will you order an investigation into disproportionate sentencing for BAME people for the same crimes? @EndRacismUK #AskStephenWilliams
- @brolezholloway Crim Justice Sys shd wk 2 promote equality, shdn't discrim against any1 because of race for same crimes #AskStephenWilliams
- There were a lot of questions about racial discrimination in the education system. A report by the Children's Commissioner found that Black Caribbean pupils were more than three times more likely to be permanently excluded from school in 2010–11 than the school population as a whole. The same report found that Gypsy and Roma Traveller and Irish Traveller children were four times more likely to be permanently excluded than the school population as a whole.
- There are also gaps in attainment between pupils by race. Black and minority ethnic students are less likely than white students to get A* - C grades at GCSE.
.@endracism #askstephenwilliams what actions will you take to tackle institutionalised racism in the education sector?
Minister for Race Equality takes your questions
At End Racism This Generation, we believe that part of the fight for racial equality needs to be open conversation between people and the government. To facilitate this, we asked Stephen Williams MP, the Minister for Race Equality, to take over the @EndRacismUK to take your questions.
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