The Green Party has been at the forefront of demanding action in support of the Black Lives Matters (BLM) campaign.
In Kingston, councillor Sharon Sumner affirmed her support for BLM (against opposition from local Conservative councillors) with a powerful speech that spoke of “the reality of police brutality which happens on a regular basis here in the UK… There are incidents across this country where people are victims of police brutality just because of the colour of their skin.”
She supported the Council’s commitment to lobbying the government to act and implement the recommendations of a recent report into the impact of coronavirus on BAME people.
In Islington, councillor Caroline Russell also put forward a successful motion in support of BLM. The motion asked Islington councillors to recognise that “a great deal” of the UK’s wealth was founded on slavery. Cllr Russell’s said that countries which were enriched by enslavement and colonisation should consider reparations to “Africa and to Africans in the diaspora.”
This follows calls to action by the Green Party’s deputy leader, Amelia Womack, who has spoken of the need to dismantle structural racism and repeated the party’s call for an independent inquiry into how Covid-19 has affected communities of colour.