Labour forced into U-turn as anger erupts over police anti-racism guidance

Public anger over the police response to the Henry Nowak stabbing has forced Labour into another U-turn, Chris Philp has declared. Policing minister Sarah Jones admitted a controversial document drawn up by police chiefs telling officers to treat ethnic minorities differently “gives the wrong impression”.

The code states that “producing equality of policing outcomes” does not “mean treating everyone the same”. And Ms Jones admitted: “It feels wrong. It’s a values document rather than a training document, and it feels wrong. I think it needs to be looked at.

“I think it’s not written in the way that it should be, and it’s right that it should be reviewed. But I think that shouldn’t be taken to mean we need to rip up the whole system. We don’t. But I think this document is wrong.”

Police forces are under pressure to scrap positive discrimination policies amid accusations that Mr Nowak was failed by “two-tier” policing fuelled by such guidance.

The Tories seized on the comment, declaring Labour have “finally” seen sense after the horrific murder of Henry Nowak.

Shadow Home Secretary Mr Philp said: “The Police Anti-Racism Commitment is immoral and dangerous and is itself racist.

“It expressly calls for different ethnic groups to be treated different to artificially engineer the same arrest rates.

“I have been calling out this nonsense for the last year, and the Home Secretary repeatedly ignored me – including yesterday in Parliament.

“And yesterday, No 10 were still denying there is two-tier policing.

“Now, we are witnessing yet another U-turn from this weak Government.

“It should not have taken the tragic death of Henry Nowak to make Labour finally see sense. But given Keir Starmer’s enthusiasm for taking the knee, it is not surprising.

“This divisive and dangerous so-called anti-racist ideology now needs to be rooted from all of policing and the whole public sector.”

Sources close to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said police chiefs were reviewing "wording" in a key document that suggests people are not treated equally in the eyes of the law.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council document states: “Producing equality of policing outcomes for people from different ethnic groups by responding to individuals and communities according to their specific needs, circumstances and experiences, with understanding that these will be racialised and with the aim of reducing harm.

“It does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’ (racial equality).”

Ms Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that when frontline officers are called to deal with any incident, they are trained to make split-second decisions based on safety and those involved being equal.

“There is a history … of racism within policing that forms an important part of the policing picture, when you are trained,” the minister said.

“But you are also trained … on how you run into danger, how you make split-second decisions based on everyone being equal, based on safety."

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said on Tuesday that black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police, and recent inquiries including the damning Casey review of the Metropolitan Police encouraged force chiefs to tackle racism and discrimination.

He said: “It is essential that we police without fear or favour in keeping the peace and enforcing the law. We must do so to earn the confidence of all communities.

“This historic and ongoing mistrust between the police and black communities risks, for example, people not reporting things to the police if they are in trouble or aiding our efforts to catch criminals, fight crime and protect all communities.

“We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing.”