The Voice: MPs calls for an end to stop and search “discrimination”

About this item

This 1995 article from The Voice highlights MP Bernie Grant's challenge to the Metropolitan Police over the disproportionate stop and search of Black Londoners. It documents concerns about racial discrimination in policing practices and debates impending legislation that could broaden police powers, potentially worsening ethnic minority harassment. The article reflects ongoing struggles against institutional racism in British law enforcement.

Key points:
– Nearly half of all stop and searches in London targeted Black people, who constituted about 9% of the population but 25.5% of stops.
– Bernie Grant criticized the Metropolitan Police for racial profiling and challenged Commissioner Sir Paul Condon to explain the disparity.
– Areas with high Black populations, such as Tottenham, Brixton, and Notting Hill, reported particularly high stop and search rates.
– Grant and civil liberties advocate Andrew Puddephatt opposed new provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill that would allow stop and search without reasonable grounds.
– The City of London Police’s 'ring of steel' anti-terrorism measures were also scrutinized for discriminatory stop and searches of ethnic minorities.

Bernie Grant, a key figure in Black British politics, used his platform to combat institutional racism, notably challenging oppressive policing practices like racial profiling. This article situates his activism within wider anti-racist and civil liberties campaigns during the 1990s aimed at police reform and accountability in local and national government.

Source note: The OCR text contains minor typographical errors and formatting inconsistencies due to scan quality, but the core content and factual details are clear and reliably conveyed.