YP Comment: Stamping out workplace bias - Employees deserve fairness

Yet such is the inescapable conclusion of the review of workplace progression by Baroness McGregor-Smith published today. Her call for action to end this deeply disturbing state of affairs is timely and should be heeded by the Government.

There are two troubling aspects to her findings. The first is that discrimination against BME workers is plainly still happening, despite being both unlawful and grossly unfair. Such discrimination has no place in a modern, multicultural Britain, and employers should take a zero-tolerance attitude towards it.

The second is that Britain is losing out on productivity it can ill-afford to squander by not helping BME workers achieve their full potential. Boosting the economy by £24bn a year is a powerful incentive for the country to address workplace inequalities.

Baroness McGregor-Smith’s review has particular resonance for Yorkshire, given our increasingly diverse population. If we are to develop the region’s economy then we need action on inequality. The review’s recommendations for putting an end to discrimination in the workplace are sensible and achievable. It is heartening that the Government has announced the establishment of a business diversity and inclusion group, which is an indication that the matter is being taken seriously.

There is no reason why progress on stamping out discrimination, and giving BME workers every opportunity to succeed should not be made quickly. Theresa May came to office promising to build an economy that works for everybody. On this issue, her Government has the chance to prove it can do so.

Flooding risk - Region’s needs must be heard

The Government’s response to the catastrophic flooding of Christmas 2015, which caused such economic devastation and personal heartache in Yorkshire, left much to be desired.

A lack of urgency, a sense of drift and a reluctance to commit sufficient funds to protecting the North – whilst the South-East received the resources it needed – did nothing to engender confidence that ministers took the issue of flooding anything like seriously enough.

And although both the Prime Minister and most of the Cabinet have changed tack since then, the air of suspicion lingers that flood protection is still not being treated as urgently as it demands.

That is the only conclusion to be drawn from the hiatus between last July and yesterday over the continuation of ministers as flooding envoys, to ensure that there are voices within the Government holding it to account and pressing the case for protection.

The announcement that envoys are to continue in post is to be welcomed, and praise is due to the Environmental Audit Committee, chaired by Wakefield MP Mary Creagh, for its persistence in persuading the Government of their value.

But it should not have been necessary for the committee to make the case, especially after its finding that long-term flood planning was deficient and the Government needed to do more.

Thankfully, this winter so far has brought no repeat of the 2015 floods to Yorkshire. Nevertheless, the flooding envoys need to speak up for this region and press the Government to provide proper resources for planning and defences.

Life of service - Veteran MP’s long commitment

History will remember the veteran Leeds-born Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman for his stingingly accurate condemnation of his party’s 1983 election manifesto as “the longest suicide note in history”.

The hard-left outlook of the party under Michael Foot held no appeal for Sir Gerald, and he served Labour for long enough to see history repeating itself in the revival of similar views under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

But history should remember Leeds Grammar School-educated Sir Gerald for something else as well. He was an MP of a vanishing breed, less interested in climbing the ministerial ladder than in faithfully serving his constituents from the back benches.

And what a length of service his was – 47 years, over the course of which his accumulated wisdom came to be admired across the political spectrum.

Such commitment is regrettably rare in public life these days, and politics is the poorer for Sir Gerald’s passing.