PM Johnson sets up commission to tackle racism

London, June 15

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new cross-government commission to tackle racism and all other forms of inequality in the UK, in response to the worldwide anti-racism “Black Lives Matter” protests.

Johnson said it is not possible to ignore the many thousands who joined the protests in Britain over the past few weeks, in the wake of the killing of 46-year-old African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis in police custody.

“No one who cares about this country can ignore the many thousands of people who have joined the “Black Lives Matter” movement to protest peacefully, as most of them have, in the last few days,” the UK PM writes in ‘The Daily Telegraph’.

“It is of no use just saying that we have made huge progress in tackling racism. There is much more that we need to do; and we will. It is time for a cross-governmental commission to look at all aspects of inequality – in employment, in health outcomes, in academic and all other walks of life,” he said. Reiterating his previous statements against the targeting of monuments and statues by protesters, including that of former UK PM Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, Johnson stressed that the focus should be on tackling the “substance” of the problem, not the symbols. — PTI