By Amber Milne
LONDON, July 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - All of
Britain's political party leaders, Supreme Court judges and
chief constables are white and less than 5% of the country's
most powerful roles are held by non-white people although they
make up 13% of the population, a study on diversity found.
Only 52 out of Britain's top 1,099 roles are held by ethnic
minorities, up from 37 in 2017, found the second Colour of Power
index, as pressure for greater workplace diversity grows
following months of anti-racism protests around the world.
"Our hope ... is to continue the current momentum of the
anti-racism movement, but more specifically focus on the role of
the corporate sector in perpetuating systems and ideals that do
not support equal opportunity," the report said.
"It's no longer acceptable for members of the majority,
however well-meaning they may be, to decide exclusively on the
opportunities, outcomes and experiences of people who are
different to them."
The death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in
the United States has led to global calls for police reforms and
racial equality, with major brands promising to do more to
tackle racism and support diversity.
Not one top civil servant, intelligence agency head, or top
banking or media agency chief executive in Britain is from an
ethnic minority, the Colour of Power index, by the consultancy
firm Green Park and advocacy group Operation Black Vote, found.
The top 50 National Health Service Trusts, which provide
health care, and the 28 heads of major public bodies, including
the Crown Prosecution Service, Medical Research Council and the
UK Statistics Authority, are exclusively white, it found.
"Decisions are being made for the population by people who
do not represent them," Aggie Mutuma, a spokeswoman for UK-based
Black Leaders Network, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"While the conversation about race in the UK continues and
people, organisations and society have awakened to the
injustices prevalent in our country, it is important that we
move to action ... to change these outcomes."
The Colour of Power index called for all organisations to
commit to making no major strategic decisions with an all-male
or all-white leadership team. Where this is not possible, it
should be clearly noted on their annual reports, it said.
"Those in entrenched positions of power clearly need access
to new perspectives," Raj Tulsiani, head of Green Park, said in
a statement.
(Reporting by Amber Milne; Editing by Katy Migiro. Please
credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of
Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the
world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)