By Zuri Omer
The UK is in the midst of a comprehensive racist offensive, with recent government policies and Labour’s right-wing shift leaving Black communities increasingly vulnerable to institutional violence and far-right aggression. This offensive is not isolated but part of a broader pattern affecting policing, politics, and grassroots activism.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s recent announcement of police reforms, including the introduction of ‘Respect Orders’, is a thinly veiled revival of the discredited Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). ASBOs were notorious for their ineffectiveness and their disproportionate targeting of Black and marginalised communities, leading to widespread criticism and their eventual abandonment. The reintroduction of similar measures, without addressing the systemic biases that plagued their predecessor, will only exacerbate existing problems.
The Casey Review found that the Met was institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic. Instead of addressing these realities, Labour is using ‘police reform’ as a way to appeal to reactionary voters, signalling their commitment to “law and order” at the expense of Black communities.
These police reform announcements come just one month after Martyn Blake, the police officer who killed 24-year-old Chris Kaba in 2022, was found not guilty of his murder. Blake’s acquittal and reported subsequent promotion to inspector highlight a system that devalues Black lives and perpetuates a culture not only of impunity, but of reward for devaluing Black lives!
Black people are disproportionately targeted by stop-and-search tactics, often without legitimate cause. A recent report by StopWatch UK reveals that Section 60 searches have an arrest rate for offensive weapons of only 0.6%. During the summer of 2020, peaceful Black Lives Matter protests highlighting systemic racism were met with heavy-handed policing—disproportionate use of force, intimidation tactics, and aggressive surveillance. Compare that to policing of the anti-lockdown protests (or every time Tommy Robinson gathers his supporters to demonise a Syrian schoolchild.) The message is clear: some groups are policed, while others are protected.
This isn’t just about isolated incidents or rogue officers; it’s about a system that treats Black and ethnic minority communities as threats first. Deaths in custody, such as that of Kevin Clarke, a Black man who died in 2018 after being restrained by police while experiencing a mental health crisis, highlight where this logic takes us. The numbers tell the story—23% of deaths in or following police custody between 2015 and 2020 involved Black and Minority Ethnic individuals, far exceeding our proportion of the population.
But if you look on X nowadays you will see the phrases ‘two tier Keir’ and ‘two tier policing’ trending frequently. This narrative of reverse victimhood perpetuated by the system and its defenders is particularly insidious. Whenever concerns about racism are raised, the focus often shifts to the pressures on police, attempting to cast them as victims of public scrutiny rather than addressing the injustices faced by those disproportionately targeted.
A further complicating factor is the creeping influence of Blue Lives Matter rhetoric in the UK. Imported from the United States, this narrative frames police as the ultimate victims, weaponising the idea that any criticism of policing is tantamount to attacking law and order itself. This is especially dangerous in the UK context, where institutional failings within the police are undeniable.
This inverted ‘two-tier policing’ is a deliberate effort to stifle critiques of institutional racism and frame police accountability as an attack on society itself. When coupled with Labour’s pandering to right-wing voters, this rhetoric forms part of a broader racist offensive targeting Black communities.
But the community is organising and responding. Just last month, the People’s Tribunal on Police Killings was announced. The Tribunal is supported by United Friends and Family, Migrant Media, 4WardEver UK and Black Lives Matter UK, and provides a platform for families affected by police violence to present evidence and seek justice. With over 2,000 deaths at the hands of the police in the past 50 years and only four successful prosecutions, the tribunal aims to challenge the systemic issues that allow such deaths to occur without accountability.
Labour’s capitulation to right-wing narratives after racist rioting in the summer and the Martyn Blake verdict is a betrayal, is exposing Black people to greater state violence and more far-right attacks. We must support communities organising themselves in self-defence. The first session of the Tribunal will be on 4-5 April 2025. More information can be found here: The People’s Tribunal on Police Killings – hearing evidence from families and others
Image:Photo by Montecruz Foto; licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license; cropped.