Training | 2009.07.31
Hugh Muir's diary
Perhaps the fight against discrimination could begin in the Commons itself. That would be nice
Furrowed brows at the Commons as the home affairs select committee says minorities are still getting a raw deal from the police. Too much boneheaded stop and search. Too many innocents on the DNA database. MPs might sort this out, but some have problems of their own. Dawn Butler (pictured), MP for Brent South, government whip and one of the few black members, has fired a salvo at the security team led by our friend Chief Superintendent Ed Bateman after she was subjected to cack-handed checking procedures while meeting constituents at Westminster. She did not have her ID as she rushed to the Pugin Room, but the security guard refused for some time to let anyone vouch for her. He did relent, with considerable bad grace, but then entered the Pugin room while the meeting was in progress to demand rather curtly: "Who are you again?" Afterwards, her visitors watched open-mouthed as he refused to give his name, then said he could not write it down because he didn\'t have any paper. "But you\'ve just written down my name in a notebook," she apparently said. This would all be just another tale of the hothouse that is the Commons, were it not for the fact that colleagues tell us Dawn is inexplicably asked to proffer her ID quite a lot by officials there. She won\'t talk to us about it while the complaint is live, but she might help herself in other ways by looking more like an honourable member. The dreadlock-style hair is a problem. A barristers\' pinstripe might help. And a badge: "I\'m an MP. I got elected!"
Yes, everything has changed, and yet everything has stayed the same. It\'s all better now they said, but quietly there has been another discrimination payout, to Amandeep Kaur Grewal, an officer who has won a tribunal case after alleging racist and religious humiliation during her time at the world famous police training school in Hendon. Things need to get better yet.
So why has George Alagiah been forced to relinquish his patronship of the Fairtrade Foundation while other high-profile BBC figures continue to enjoy less worthy – and lucrative – outside gigs? We had a long chat with the Beeb about it, and the result is we still don\'t know. There could be a conflict; rules on writing for newspapers are different; everything is considered on a case-by-case basis. Take your pick. He did no better, apparently.
Because the public finances are getting tighter, we need to know our money is being wisely spent, on hospitals, schools, helicopters and the like. We don\'t want to see millions being diverted because those who should know better screwed up. Avert your eyes then. For the sorry tidings, quietly confirmed to MP David Gauke when no one was paying attention, tell us the mess-up caused by overcharging VAT on a multitude of businesses – from motor firms to Condé Nast – and limiting the period available to them to claim it back, has so far reached £1.8bn. Claims triggered by a Lords judgment, which went against the government, so far total £8.5bn. Officials are weeding out the illegitimate claims as fast as they can, but it\'s still a pretty penny. A lot of hospitals. A lot of schools.
Finally, the excitement just will not die down over Alan Milburn \'s recent revelation that the middle classes keep all the best tunes. "After 100 years of research, Labour scientists have made the amazing discovery that class is the basis of how our society is organised and that it actually makes a difference," records reader Kevin Donovan. "The Milburn Paradox, as it is called, has eluded the leading thinkers of the lab for well over a century. The publication of the report was marked by an underground rotation in Highgate cemetery." Tremors shook the earth for miles around.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/[...]commons-dawn-butler-minorities
