A Home Office commissioned paper that officials have repeatedly tried to suppress since it came out in 2021 concludes that the origins of the Windrush scandal lay in 30 years of racist immigration legislation designed to reduce the UK’s non-white population. The 52-page paper, which has been leaked to The Guardian states that “during the period 1950-1981, every single piece of immigration or citizenship legislation was designed at least in part to reduce the number of people with black or brown skin who were permitted to live and work in the UK”. 

​The report, named 'The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal', was commissioned by the Home Office as part of a commitment to educating civil servants about the causes of the Windrush scandal, which saw thousands of people wrongly classified as illegal immigrants by the department. Stating that “the British Empire depended on racist ideology in order to function” the report asserts that in the 1950s, British officials shared a “basic assumption that ‘coloured immigrants’, as they were referred to, were not good for British society.”

While circulated internally, a year on the report remains unpublished and a Freedom of Information request by The Guardian was turned down by the Home Office; a refusal described as "shameful" by Simon Woolley, the former CEO of Operation Black Vote and chair of the No 10 race disparity unit. “The government is hellbent in its denial of the systemic nature of racial inequality and in this climate historical facts have become uncomfortable truths that need to be hidden.” Read the full Guardian article here.

​Image by Steve Eason.

This was one of the comments on social media after the premiere screening of our documentary ‘After the Flood: the church, slavery and reconciliation' on Wednesday May 25 at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, in London's West End. Over 200 came to watch, and burst into spontaneous applause as the credits rolled. It was followed by a lively question and answer session with a panel chaired by film interviewee Wale Hudson-Roberts, and including narrator Prof Robert Beckford, Eleasah Roberts, Lisa Adjei, Peter Cruchley and MJR trustee Paul Keeble.

Thanks to all who came and special thanks to Bloomsbury Central Baptist for hosting.

So, how do we get this documentary "seen by every church in the land"? One way is by lots of people asking to see it in their church or city. If you would like to know more, visit this page on our website or send us an email.

Black Equity Organisation (BEO), the UK’s first national civil rights organisation established to advance justice and equity for Black people has been launched by some of the country’s most influential Black figures, including shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, academic David Olusoga, chief executive Karen Blackett, business leader Dame Vivian Hunt and artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah.

Launched to coincide with the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, BEO is founded on the premise that systemic racism not only exists but plagues millions of people across Britain. The legacy of historic policies and attitudes means that 50% of Black children live in poverty, Black mothers are four times more likely to die in childbirth and at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Black people were four times more likely to die from Covid than white people.

The organisation has been compared to the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in the United Scales, founded in 1909 by key Black progressives.

Read more in The Independent. Or in The Guardian here. The launch of BEO has been supported by six law firms - more.

Premier Christianity magazine has given the new MJR documentary ‘After the Flood: the church, slavery and reconciliation' a 5-star review, describing it as a "beautifully made, informative and moving documentary, well worth an hour of your time." Despite the nature of some of the content, the film is not "angry", but "thoughtful, well-made, engaging content."

It notes that since the murder of George Floyd, there have been "numerous films made and books written about slavery and racism, but few that focus on the active and disgraceful role of UK churches". 

"​Superb on-location shots from the West Indies and the UK are interspersed with insights from theologians and academics who, despite their great learning, communicate well in plain, everyday English! It is incredibly well made and watchable" Read the whole review here.

Last week Dr Robert Beckford and MJR trustee Paul Keeble spoke to Chick Yuill on Premier Radio about the work of MJR and the new feature documentary, ‘After the Flood: the church, slavery and reconciliation'. The film, which will be premiered in London on 25th May 2022, tells how the 18th century Church became embroiled in the slave trade and encourages us to face the truth and deal with the ongoing legacy of slavery.

“Most Christians don’t know about the history of slavery because it represents one of the biggest cover ups in the history of the church in Britain. What we hope the film will do is enable people to understand this history, and to meaningfully, in an educated way, become part of the solution.” Dr Robert Beckford.
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Listen to the interview here. Tickets for the Premiere are available here.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that unemployment rates among Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers are now more than double those of their white counterparts: 7.7% versus 3.5% The gap has widened considerably since the start of the pandemic. These disparities show that the post-pandemic employment rate for ethnic minority workers is recovering at a slower rate than that of white workers.

It has also been revealed by The Independent that Black households face being disproportionately impacted by the cost of living crisis with the majority having less than £1,500 in savings and being more likely to go hungry. And it has recently emerged that Black, Asian and minority ethnic women are twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts as white men.

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said: "The pandemic held up a mirror to discrimination in our labour market". and is calling on the government to “challenge” structural racism that is resulting in job inequality. “BME workers bore the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic – in every industry where jobs were lost to the impact of Covid, BME workers were more likely to have been made unemployed.”

Read more here. Download the ONS report here.

MJR's documentary film, 'After the Flood' has been given a write-up by the Royal Society for the Arts. The film "offers a narrative on the "how"s and "why"s of the Church and racism, and how to move beyond it." Read it in full here.

Tickets for the premiere screening of 'After the Flood' with Q&A in London on May 25 are available here.