6 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021
News feature
‘We must ask why so many of our prisoners are black’ I
Dr Floyd Millen suggests that cosmopolitan London is intolerant of black people. Here, he explains how he has come to that conclusion – and gives the facts to back it up
F ANYONE doubted that our criminal justice system, our policing, our mental health services, our schools and social services systems disproportionately intervene and mete out more punitive sanctions and interventions on the black community, the above headline should put you in no doubt. In 2021, it is difficult to comprehend that 74 per cent of children held on remand awaiting trial in London are black. Children on remand have not been convicted of any crime, but a judge or a magistrate has decided that they must await their trial in prison. Prison is no place to hold a child who has not been convicted of any crime. The figures, released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the charity Transform Justice, showed that in 2020, 88 per cent, or nearly nine out of 10 children, were from black or other minority ethnic backgrounds. Cosmopolitan London is intolerant of black people. Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are clearly being treated unfairly in the criminal justice system and are less likely to be released on bail than white people. A key finding of the 2017 Lammy Review which looked into the issues of race in the justice system was that there was a lack of data from magistrates’ courts; of his 35 recommendations only six or eight of it has been implemented in full. The numbers of black and
WORRYING PICTURE: The evidence shows that you are far more likely to go to prison if you are black
Minority groups are treated unfairly and less likely to be released on bail than white people minority ethnic children on remand in London is much higher than in England and Wales, where in 2020 the numbers were 57 per cent and 33 per cent for black children. According to data from the Greater London Assembly in 2016, the black population of London was around 13 per cent, whilst the black and minority ethnic population of London is around 44 per cent.
ALARMING
In response to these alarming figures, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) acknowledged that in addition to reviewing race disparity in the youth justice system, the number of black and ethnic minority children entering the youth justice system for the first time had fallen significantly since 2009. The MOJ also added that it needed to do much more work to tackle the deep-rooted causes of over-representation, including using the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to tighten the tests court use to remand children to custody. It’s not just the system. Mothers and fathers are to blame too
There is indeed a failure in our criminal justice system, our policing, our mental health services, our schools and social services, but there is also an abject failure of mothers and fathers to meaningfully educate, guide, protect, support and continually advocate for their children.
REASSESS
We cannot simply blame institutions. Mothers and fathers need to look critically at their parenting and take responsibility. The strength of any community is the family. There is a crisis at the heart of our families. Mothers need to reassess how they engage their children in the lives of their fathers, particularly absent fathers. There are numerous examples of good fathers being prevented from having mean-
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ingful involvement in the lives of their children after a separation. There are also far too many men walking away when their ex-partners wish that they would have more involvement
white males 29 per cent. Imprisonment rate for black males was 5.8 times higher than for white males. The direction of travel in the UK is concerning. As more black and ethnic mi-
Fathers and mothers need to look at themselves and realise that their failings are resulting in our children being incarcerated in the life and experiences of their children. Fathers and mothers need to look at themselves and realise that their failings are resulting in our children being incarcerated and left on the margins of society. Look at the USA. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2018, black males accounted for 34 per cent of the total male prison population,
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norities enter the criminal justice system, we are beginning to see the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) which is characterised by the rapid expansion of prisons; higher incarceration rates of black and ethnic minorities; the use of cheap inmate labour to fulfil outside commercial contracts; and prioritisation of financial gain of companies over rehabilitating criminals.
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Incarceration not only destroys lives, but the PIC has become a commercial imperative in the USA as it meets the supply and demand needs of companies who have a ready supply of cheap labour in the prison system. We cannot afford for this to be perpetrated on our community and our young. It is time for us to be accountable to each other whilst we make our institutions accountable to us. Dr Floyd Millen is a political scientist and a former special adviser to the Cabinet Office and the
founder of the first BAME-owned public affairs think tank, Yes
Minister. Dr Millen was mentored by the former Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Charles Clarke, and
studied under the Conservative Peer, Professor, the Lord Norton of Louth.
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