Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats

It has taken a while but the signs are that the Liberal Democrats are beginning to flex their muscles and risk causing their senior coalition partners a degree of unease.

Not for the first time Baroness Warsi has accused Simon Hughes of trying to wreck the Coalition. Simon will wear this as a badge of honour because he sees himself as the champion of his party activists and not as a mouth piece for the coalition government. He is of course absolutely right to do so. Whilst the majority of Lib Dem members supported the decision by the leadership to enter into a coalition with the conservatives, there is no hiding the fact that a growing number have recently started to ask if the party was paying too high a price for the privilege of being in government. The Party's poor showing in the polls and the battering the party took in last year's local council elections served only to increase this sense of unease.

Today two of the murderers of Stephen Lawrence, who was brutally killed in a racist attack in 1993, have been brought to justice.

Issan Ghazni, Chair of EMLD said:

"I hope that this verdict will allow some sense of closure for the Lawrence family, friends and supporters who have worked with determined integrity to make sure that justice has finally been seen to be done. We hope they will regain some peace in their lives."

Christmas is a special time for many people - a time for rest from work, for family and friends, for presents and good food. This is a time for traditional celebrations around a great religious festival, one of the most important in the Christian year.

Whilst religion and culture are often seen in some parts of the world as sources of division, difference and conflict, we should see them as valuable opportunities to bring people together and to learn from the core teachings of tolerance, respect for others and treating everyone as a neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour. For me as a Liberal, the need to show understanding, tolerance and support for other fellow human being is far more important than dwelling on any cultural or religious differences.

We have grown used to politicians approaching the issue of 'race' in the context of immigration, crime, or the aftermath of a tragedy.

So it was enormously refreshing to hear Nick Clegg offer up a well-informed speech on the quest for true race equality, without a negative backdrop.

Delivering a Scarman Lecture on the 30th anniversary of the ground-breaking report into the 1981 Brixton riots, Clegg gave arguably the best speech on race equality by a Cabinet minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister delivered the Scarman Lecture, hosted by the People Can charity, in Brixton on 24 November 2011.

"This event marks the 30th Anniversary of the Scarman Report...
Three decades after the Brixton Riots.
Brian Paddick, a Liberal Democrat colleague of mine...
Was a young sergeant on the streets in 1981...
Before becoming the police commander in charge of the area twenty years later.

However much we try the issue of Race and racial bias simply won't go away. Last week our own Duwayne Brooks had to give evidence in the case relating to the racially motivated murder of Steven Lawrence. Hard to believe the event took place almost 15 years back. It is even more worrying to note that racial disadvantage and racial abuse continues to plague our society

The Liberal Democrats celebrated Divali for the first time at a national level, with chief guest speakers Simon Hughes MP and Baroness Ros Scott, at the Bombay Palace in central London on 9 Dec. The occasion was also attended by special Liberal Democrat guests Lord Loomba and the Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick with his team of GLA candidates.

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."