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Information about Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips OBE (born in London on December 31 1953) is a Black British Labour politician and former political journalist of Guyanese origins. After supporting multiculturalism for many years, Phillips is now one of its most outspoken mainstream critics. He expressed fears that multiculturalism could cause Britain to "sleepwalk towards segregation"[1] and has argued for school selection to be amended to prevent segregation in British schools.

In 2006 he was appointed the head of a new organisation known as the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, which will be an organisation promoting equality issues across the full raft of ethnic, gender, sexual-orientation, disability and other minority interests.[2]

Early life

Phillips was born in London but went to secondary school in Georgetown, Guyana before returning to London to study chemistry at Imperial College London, where he became president of the students' union before his election as president of the National Union of Students in 1978 as a candidate for the Broad Left. He has had a varied career in both media and politics, working initially as a researcher for London Weekend Television (LWT), before being promoted to head of current affairs. He produced and presented The London Programme and has worked on projects for the BBC. With his brother, the crime writer Mike Phillips, he wrote Windrush: Irresistible Rise of Multi-racial Britain (1998, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-255909-9).

Political activity

Phillips has always been close to the New Labour project. He is a friend of Tony Blair, and Peter Mandelson worked with him at London Weekend Television. Mandelson went on to be best man at Phillips' wedding to Asha Bhownagary. Phillips joined the Labour Party in London shortly before a failed campaign as mayoral candidate and before being elected to the London Assembly on 4 May 2000. He served as chair of the London Assembly until February 2003, before resigning his seat to take up his current appointment. He has campaigned on equality issues throughout his career and has made a significant contribution to the voluntary sector. He has been chair of the Runnymede Trust and commissioner for a number of other charities.

Multiculturalism: disagreements with Ken Livingstone

In 2006 the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone criticised Phillips views on multiculturalism stating Phillips was "pandering to the right" so much that the black chairman of the CRE "would soon join the BNP".[3] Phillips himself replied that his views had been "well documented" and "well supported". Phillips has made speeches stating that "it was right to ask hard questions about multicultural Britain". Although he appologised for his misuse of statistics on levels of segregation he welcomed the focus on integration of different communities after the launch of A Commission for Integration and Cohesion.[4]

Views on Islam and free speech

Trevor Phillips has spoken on the need for free speech to "allow people to offend each other."[5] These comments came after the protests against the Danish cartoons satirising the "Prophet" Muhammad which sparked protests in the Muslim world. He stated in an ITV interview: "One point of Britishness is that people can say what they like about the way we should live, however absurd, however unpopular it is." However, Trevor Phillips does not seem to feel freedom of speech extends to those petitioning against traveller encampments[1]

2005 French rioting

  • After the 2005 riots in France Phillips warned that "inequality, race and powerlessness" can be "incendiary".

Queen Mother 'joke'

During a speech at Imperial College London on June 16 2007 he recalled a meeting with the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, when an aide advised Phillips about dancing with the Queen Mother, 'You have to be careful where you put your hands. You have to be careful about the colostomy bag'. Phillips then reportedly paused for laughter.[6]

Critique of America and its Race Issues

In an article published in 2003,[7] Phillips curiously stated "from Rome, through Constantinople to Venice and London, our (European) nations have a history of peacefully absorbing huge, diverse movements of people, driven by war, famine and persecution; and there is no history of long-term ethnic segregation of the kind one can see in any US city."

References

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Labour Party

Leader Gordon Brown

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Political Ideology Democratic socialism (Official Position)
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Georgetown, estimated population 213,705 (2002 Guyana census), is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.
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Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is a British politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000.

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multiculturalism is used to describe the recognition of cultural and ethnic diversity within the demographics of a particular social space.

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