Lawrence Report: Straw: Make Britain a beacon of race equality

Commons Debate

THE DAMNING report of the inquiry into Stephen Lawrence's murder should be a "watershed in our attitudes to racism", Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, said yesterday. Mr Straw said the report placed "responsibility on each of us", encouraging MPs to make Britain a "beacon in the world on racial equality".

In a solemn statement, Mr Straw added: "The Commons will share my sense of shame that the criminal justice system, and the Metropolitan Police in particular, failed the Lawrence family so badly."

The despair of Stephen's parents had been "compounded by the failure of our criminal justice system to deliver them justice, to secure the conviction of those responsible.

"This report does not place a responsibility on someone else. It places a responsibility on each one of us. We have to make racial equality a reality."

Sir Williams Macpherson of Cluny's report was a "testament to the courage and determination of Stephen's parents", Mr Straw stressed, adding: "And upon this report we must build a lasting testament to Stephen."

Sir Norman Fowler, the shadow Home Secretary, said it was society's aim to ensure that such an "appalling trag-edy" never recurred again.

"I reassert our total opposition to racially prejudiced behaviour. It must have no place in the police. It must have no place in any other organisation public or private. It has no place in this country," he said.

As far as the police was concerned, there was an "urgent need to build trust where it does not exist and to rebuild trust where it has been destroyed. There is a massive task and no one should underestimate what is needed," Sir Norman added.

But he expressed concern about the use of the phrase "institutional racism" and it should not be used as a generalised condemnation of the whole of the service.

"As far as we are concerned we will do everything to help in the reform process. What we will not do is to support any generalised attack on the police who remain one of the best services we have in this country, not one of the worst."

Chris Mullin, the Labour MP for Sunderland South and chairman of the Commons Home Affairs committee, echo-ed his concerns, stressing this was not the "moment to declare open season on the police but the moment to make sure some serious lessons are learnt".

Mistakes should be owned up to and not covered up, misbehaviour by police should be punished and "the best way to end canteen culture is to spend a little more time outside the canteen".

However, Bernie Grant, the black MP for Tottenham, demanded the departure of Sir Paul Condon because the black community has lost "trust and confidence" in him.

"British society" was being given "a last chance" to improve race relations, he said.

Mr Grant warned: "I'm not saying he should be sacked, I'm not saying that he should be resigning - I'm not a bad-minded person - I think early retirement is what should happen to Mr Condon because if we are to move into a new phase, we can't move into the new phase with the same old faces."

The "feedback from the street" was that while attitudes among officers on the beat had improved, the same could not be said of their supervisors, the desk sergeants and superintendents.

"That is the attitude that permeates institutionalised racism so we have to begin to call to account the actions of some of these detectives. The black community is looking very closely at that issue," Mr Grant said.

But Mr Straw insisted that Sir Paul had accepted the charge of institutional racism as defined in the report and was "the man to take this forward". He also reminded Mr Grant that Sir Paul was due to retire in ten months' time.

Alan Beith, for the Liberal Democrats, said Britain had a proud tradition of "policing by consent" but the report had shown a "failure to establish that consent in minority communities".

He also urged Mr Straw to accept Sir William's recommendation that serious complaints against the police should be investigated by an independent body and not another constabulary.

Clive Efford, whose Eltham constituency was where Stephen Lawrence was murdered, pledged the publication of the report offered the opportunity for all MPs to "unite", go back to their constituencies and "play a leading role" in tackling racism.

Reminding MPs that he had campaigned for an independent complaints police authority in 1981, Mr Straw made clear he was "still extremely sympathetic to the idea. This is a piece of unfinished business - it's important that we get it right," he said.

The Home Secretary added it was not enough for police forces in areas with large ethnic minority communities to recruit more black and Asian officers because more about anti-racist policies needed also to be done in mostly white areas.

"I don't want the police service to get the idea that just because their area is a predominantly white area that they therefore don't need to recruit black and Asian officers."

Peter Bottomley, the Tory MP for Worthing West, paid tribute to Duwayne Brooks, Stephen's friend who was with him on the day he was stabbed. He said much of the media coverage of Mr Brooks's involvement in the subsequent investigation had been "adverse - and quite wrong".

Joan Ruddock, the MP for Lewisham Deptford and former minister for women, said there was "a great sense of relief amongst my constituents, a third of whom are black, that at last institutional racism within the Met has been accepted by this House".

But Humfrey Malins, the Tory MP for Woking, warned people to be careful about how they defined institutional racism, because it included "accidental conduct" and 99 per cent of London's police passed the deliberate racism test "with flying colours".

Sarah Schaefer