My friend, Baroness Doreen Lawrence

Very few people have as profound an effect on society as Doreen Lawrence has had on Britain over the 20 years since Stephen Lawrence’s death. Her thoughtful and tireless campaigning is largely responsible for a transformation of attitudes towards racism and policing that has radically changed our country for the better. A generation have grown up with Doreen as the embodiment of the fight against injustice and institutionalised racism. There is nobody I would rather be making our laws than Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

I consider myself fortunate to call Doreen a friend. We first met in the mid 1990’s through the anti-racism campaigns that Doreen led. Later, while I was a lawyer, we sat together on a Home Office Committee on Stop and Search and I will never forget the  commanding  but calm way she held officials to account for delivering on their promises of reform. Since then we have worked on many campaigns together. Doreen is both a force of nature and one of the most kind and compassionate people I know.

As a parent myself, it is Doreen’s bravery I find most inspiring. Her courage to keep campaigning for justice for Stephen through the initial private prosecution, the Inquest, the Public Inquiry , the implementation of the McPhearson recommendations including the change in the double-jeopardy law and the successful criminal prosecution of two of her son’s killers is staggering. And through it all she has always held herself with such quiet dignity. I am sure I’m not the only parent that has wondered whether we would have had  the same strength and determination if it had been us.

It doesn’t stop there. I have visited the Stephen Lawrence Centre and seen firsthand the work Doreen does through the Stephen Lawrence Trust to transform the lives of young people and enable them to overcome disadvantage and discrimination through bursaries and mentoring schemes. Most recently, the Trust has been working with the new Police and Crime commissioners to help them deliver fair policing practices that promote race equality and good community relations.

Baroness Lawrence will be a great asset to both the House of Lords and to Labour. She will help shape our policy on the criminal justice system and the treatment of victims with her unparalleled experience o both. She will be a role model not just for African Caribbean women in a House of Lords that still isn’t representative of the country but for all women, ethnic minorities and parents. Most of all,  she will be a breath of fresh air in an institution that desperately needs one. I am immensely proud that Ed Miliband invited her to join Labour in Parliament, glad that she accepted and very much looking forward to working with her.

Sadiq Khan is Shadow Justice Secretary and Minister for London.