A statement on Jason Arday

Firstly as the BAME representative on the Labour Party NEC, my heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of our dearly loved Jason Arday.

No matter what a person may have done, nobody should be subjected to that relentless public hounding, humiliation and harassment. The level of media scrutiny Professor Arday faced was totally unacceptable.

I am shocked to the core by his tragic loss.

Sadly this is not the first time that a Black person has faced such intense scrutiny from the media. All dignity was lost in the process which has made me think about how much more should we accept from the media. Unfortunately, this case is not an isolated one. Black lives are regularly sensationalised and scrutinised by the media without the care and humanity that we would expect from institutions in this country.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people up and down the country will be asking whether they can expect equality, fairness and dignity when facing public scrutiny. Equality and fairness are what I stand for, which is why I believe that there must be an independent investigation into how the media and other institutions handle issues of this nature in the future.

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