Beorn
03-01-2009, 09:01 PM
Minority groups to get extra Government help to protect them from the recession
Ethnic minorities could get extra help during the recession following Government fears they will be hardest hit as the economy deteriorates.
Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell announced a controversial drive to ensure ethnic minority workers do not get 'left behind'.
He warned employment levels amongst ethnic minorities fell by ten percentage points in the 1990s recession, more than other groups.
Mr Purnell, announcing the initiative in a speech to Labour's Black Asian and Minority Ethnic annual general meeting in Leicester yesterday, said it was vital to ensure the mistakes of previous recessions were not repeated.
'In the past too many were left behind in bad times. Ethnic minority workers suffered most in the Tory recessions,' he said.
'Employment levels amongst ethnic minority workers fell by 10 percentage points in the 1990s recession - much worse than rest of the country.
'Just think of the waste of human potential. Whole communities were abandoned, families where no one then worked for generations.'
But the Government's focus on minorities drew criticism from Conservative MPs, who warned it risked entrenching division.
Shipley MP Philip Davies said: 'This is simply outrageous. The Government should be targeting support at all who need it.
'The Government should be colour blind when it comes to looking who needs help. Doing otherwise will only entrench racism, as far as I'm concerned.
'The Government should be looking now to help the groups that have already been hit, like savers.
'This is the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name - ministers talking to different groups and telling them what they want to hear. It drives me to distraction.'
A spokesman for the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group said: 'At a time when so many people are feeling the pinch, the Government should be allocating help on the basis of need.
'Lots of people are suffering hard times in the recession. The last thing they need is for the Government to play politics with different ethnic minority and gender groups.
'Instead, it should concentrate on an honest effort to help us all through the recession.'
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will assess the impact of unemployment on ethnic minorities, women, the disabled and older workers and advise ministers on steps to take.
More @ Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158242/Ethnic-minorities-extra-Government-help-protect-recession.html)
Ethnic minorities could get extra help during the recession following Government fears they will be hardest hit as the economy deteriorates.
Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell announced a controversial drive to ensure ethnic minority workers do not get 'left behind'.
He warned employment levels amongst ethnic minorities fell by ten percentage points in the 1990s recession, more than other groups.
Mr Purnell, announcing the initiative in a speech to Labour's Black Asian and Minority Ethnic annual general meeting in Leicester yesterday, said it was vital to ensure the mistakes of previous recessions were not repeated.
'In the past too many were left behind in bad times. Ethnic minority workers suffered most in the Tory recessions,' he said.
'Employment levels amongst ethnic minority workers fell by 10 percentage points in the 1990s recession - much worse than rest of the country.
'Just think of the waste of human potential. Whole communities were abandoned, families where no one then worked for generations.'
But the Government's focus on minorities drew criticism from Conservative MPs, who warned it risked entrenching division.
Shipley MP Philip Davies said: 'This is simply outrageous. The Government should be targeting support at all who need it.
'The Government should be colour blind when it comes to looking who needs help. Doing otherwise will only entrench racism, as far as I'm concerned.
'The Government should be looking now to help the groups that have already been hit, like savers.
'This is the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name - ministers talking to different groups and telling them what they want to hear. It drives me to distraction.'
A spokesman for the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group said: 'At a time when so many people are feeling the pinch, the Government should be allocating help on the basis of need.
'Lots of people are suffering hard times in the recession. The last thing they need is for the Government to play politics with different ethnic minority and gender groups.
'Instead, it should concentrate on an honest effort to help us all through the recession.'
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will assess the impact of unemployment on ethnic minorities, women, the disabled and older workers and advise ministers on steps to take.
More @ Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158242/Ethnic-minorities-extra-Government-help-protect-recession.html)