In the spring of 2021 the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) Report was published. Part of its remit was to consider the extent to which descriptions of Britain as a systemically racist country could be supported empirically. The Commission, led by DDU Advisory Council member Dr Tony Sewell, concluded that the current research did not support this claim. The Report highlighted the need for better research methods, including disaggregating figures for over-general classifications such as BAME, and multivariate analysis for investigating cases where racism may be operating. Outrage among our academic and cultural elites ensued, so DDU worked to ensure that the UK’s common sense voice on race was also heard.

Collectively, DDU wrote to the Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch MP. We made it clear that while we did not agree with everything in the report we fully supported its main finding, namely that a higher bar of evidence was required to substantiate allegations of systemic racism. In light of the intense, unfounded criticism and personal vilification of CRED commissioners, we also wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister commending the CRED report. The letter was signed by nearly 500 people from across the political spectrum and DDU received a letter of thanks from Prime Minister Boris Johnson. And to cut through the relentless personal attacks on individual CRED commissioners in the mainstream media we held a public discussion on CRED called ‘Substance not Smears’, where commentators including Kunle Olulode and Calvin Robinson got to grips with the important findings of the Report.