This House of Library Briefing provides background information on the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which is observed annually on 21 March.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March 2018 (213 KB , PDF)
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March and the theme for 2018 is promoting tolerance, inclusion, unity, and respect for diversity in the context of combatting racial discrimination. The UN highlights that racism can take various forms including through “denying individuals the basic principles of equality to fuelling ethnic hatred that may lead to genocide”, which can “destroy lives and fracture communities”. An early attempt at providing legal protection in the UK was brought about through the Race Relations Act 1965, following lobbying from the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination and by members of both Houses of Parliament. More recently, there has been the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, which protects a variety of characteristics, including race, and prohibits various types of discrimination, harassment and victimisation. In 2015, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that “people from ethnic minority groups are often at a disadvantage in the labour market”. Reporting in 2017, the McGregor-Smith Review claimed that GDP could increase by up to 1.3 percent a year if workers from black and ethnic minority backgrounds progressed at the same rate as their white colleagues.
In 2016–17, there were 80,393 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, of which 62,685 (78 percent) were race hate crimes, representing a 27 increase from 2016–17. Whilst the number of stop and searches have fallen for all ethnic groups between the period of 2006/07 and 2015/16, people from an ethnic minority background are three times more likely, and black people are over six times more likely, to be stopped and searched than white people. Considering the Criminal Justice System, the Lammy Review recommended improvements aimed at reducing the proportion of BAME offenders in the criminal justice system to reflect a “growing sense of urgency, across party-political lines, to find solutions to this inequity”.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March 2018 (213 KB , PDF)
Advances in science and medicine led to rising life expectancy in the UK throughout the 20th century, but increases have slowed. Are we nearing the ceiling of life expectancy or will a new wave of research change everything? This briefing explores the science and policy implications of life extension.
The rural economy in the UK is made up of a variety of different industries, including agriculture and tourism. Rural areas contribute a significant proportion of the UK’s economic output. However, figures for England indicate productivity in rural areas is lower when compared with urban areas. This briefing provides a summary of statistics on the rural economy and outlines some of the challenges for achieving economic growth.
Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences were indeterminate sentences given to serious offenders who posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public. Although it is over a decade since they were abolished, more than 2,000 people are still in prison serving an IPP sentence. The Labour government has said it would not conduct a resentencing exercise but has said it would continue its efforts in supporting those in custody to reduce their risk and move towards a safe and sustainable release.
