Wednesday, March 07, 2012

British Blacks Campaign Against Government Cuts

UK blacks campaign against govt. cuts

Wed Mar 7, 2012 7:13PM GMT
presstv.ir

Black and ethnic minority groups have gathered in the Parliament on Monday to launch the Living in the Margins campaign against the British government's austerity measures.

Warning that the coalition government’s cuts to social services hit ethnic minorities hardest, they accused local authorities of ignoring equality legislation to drive through cutbacks.

New figures from the Labour Force Survey revealed that unemployment rate for young black people in the UK stands at 44%, which is more than twice the jobless rate of 20% for their white counterparts.

Health charity Afiya Trust's head Patrick Vernon said, "Ethnic minority communities are experiencing one of the largest increases in health inequalities and one of the largest reductions in social mobility since the 1940s.”

Carers UK chief executive Helena Herklots also described the campaign’s launch as "incredibly timely" as six million unpaid carers, including many from ethnic minorities, were among those being hit hard by the Tory-led government’s budget cuts.

Furthermore, the UK shadow equalities minister Kate Green, who chaired the meeting warned that the cuts to social care services “will make the situation worse" for minority groups, who “already suffer considerable health inequalities.”

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