taskforce news

> WHERE EVERYONE IS EQUAL

EMTASKFORCE; BAME LABOUR; CHINESE FOR LABOUR; AFRICANS FOR LABOUR; SOMALIS FOR LABOUR; LABOUR ARAB GROUP

Issue 10/2013

DIWALI AT WE MIN STER W ES T TM NS

Jack Straw, the former Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Lord Chancellor, who has been MP for Blackburn since 1979, will stand down at the next election. Mr. Straw promised to "devote all my energies" to putting Ed Miliband into power and said he had no Jack Straw doubt the Labour leader could win in 2015. Jack`s contribution in Parliament in support of Britans ethnic minority communities has been outstanding. He will be remembered as the Home Secretary who overturned the views of his predecessor and established the Steven Lawrence inquiry. His seat in Blackburn now falls vacant and the NEC will decide shortly whether it will be open or an AWS. FIRST BAME PERMANENT SECRETARY APPOINTED

TH T H A N K Y OU J A CK!

The Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband was the Chief Guest at this year`s Diwali at Westminster event held in the Commons. Among the guests were Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, Virendra Sharma, Valerie Vaz, Seema Malhotra, Barry Gardiner, Keith Vaz and many other Ministers, MPs, Lords and community leaders. A week later Ed hosted his own Diwali party at the Labour Party headquarters in Brewer`s Green. This is the second time the Labour Party has organised its own Diwali celebrations. Ed said "The British Hindu community has changed the face of Britain for the better making a huge contribution to the life of our country, creating jobs and continuing to uphold Britain as an example of diversity.

Ed Miliband addressing Diwali at Westminster

NEWS IN BRIEF

Sharon White has become the first woman and the first black person to be appointed as a Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, in a sign of the changing face of Whitehalls most powerful department. She becomes Second Permanent Secretary, with responsibility for managing Britains public finances. Her Sharon White ascendancy reflects a change in the make-up of the Treasury, which a decade ago had a staff that was more than 75 per cent male. Today 43 per cent of its employees are women. Labour`s new Shadow Education Secretary and Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Tristam Hunt has confirmed that if Labour comes back to power, it would not close down any of the free schools established under the coalition Governments reforms. Tristam Hunt He said: The innovation, creativity, community engagement you see in the best free schools great, lets have more. ETHNIC VOICE ON BBC Mishal Husain, was hailed as a breath of fresh air as she made her debut on BBC Radio 4`s Today programme and became its first ethnic minority presenter. Mishal is also only the fourth female presenter in the Today programme`s 56-year history. LABOUR BACKING FAITH SCHOOLS

COUNCILLORS CALLING
with Cllr. Muhammad Afzal

What is your current position? Chairman - Employment and Human Resources Committee, Birmingham City Council and Councillor since 1982 Who`s your political hero or heroine? Nelson Mandela. He taught the world how to forgive What has influenced your career most (and why)? Fighting inequality and discrimination has motivated me

What's your favourite quote or motto? The people who discriminate against you they do it in such a way that you can not prove it but if you are a victim of discrimination you can feel it.

What is your favourite political book? The Labour Party Manifesto 2010!

Mishal Husain