Labour 'fails to pick black candidates'

A leading member of the Labour Party in London today attacked "institutionalised racism" in the party as a Standard survey showed that the number of ethnic minority MPs in the capital may not rise after the election.

Kingsley Abrams, vice-chairman of the Black Socialist Society, said Labour's failure to select black or Asian candidates in winnable seats was " outrageous" at a time when black voters were turning against the party.

He spoke out as Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, warned against "ugly" campaigning on race issues.

Evening Standard survey shows that between them the three major parties have chosen just one ethnic minority candidate in a safe seat not already held by a black MP.

Sadiq Khan, selected by Labour in Tooting to replace the retiring Tom Cox, would bring the total of non-white MPs in London to six out of 84 if he was elected, as seems likely. But in Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour's Oona King is at risk of defeat from George Galloway of Respect.

London has an ethnic minority population of nearly 30 per cent. If nonwhite MPs were elected in proportion to their numbers, there would be at least 24 of them in London.

Labour has selected another black candidate, Dawn Butler, to replace Paul Boateng in Brent South. In Brent East, Yasmin Qureshi is trying to wrest the seat back from the Liberal Democrats.

But in inner-city safe seats where MPs are retiring, black candidates seem to have been shut out.

Mr Abrams said: "Eight Labour MPs [in London] who won in 2001 are retiring, but not a single Afro-Caribbean man has even been shortlisted in any of those seats.

"There is institutionalised racism within the party membership that has resulted in so few candidates and officials don't recognise the problem."

Neither the Tories nor Lib-Dems are fielding any ethnic minority candidates in winnable seats in London. On current polls, the Tories would have only two non-white MPs on 6 May - Adam Afriye in Windsor and Shailesh Vara in North-West Cambridgeshire.

A Labour spokeswoman said the party had a "strong and proud tradition of involving and developing black people at all levels" and had not ruled out allblack shortlists in future to raise the number of black MPs.

Mr Phillips warned the immigration debate could inflame racial tensions and urged politicians to "calm down".