A Human rights panel of the UN has issued a scathing criticism of the UK Government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (Cred) race report, branding it ‘reprehensible’ for trying to ‘rationalise’ and ‘normalise’ white supremacy in Britain by ‘repackaging racist tropes and stereotypes into fact’.

Five human rights experts working for the organisation claimed the controversial report presented by Cred on March 31 effectively whitewashed the history of slavery and colonialism, and ‘further distorted and falsified historic facts’. 

The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent condemned the report’s assertion that there was no institutional racism in the UK, and said the review led by Tony Sewell ‘may licence further racism, the promotion of negative racial stereotypes, and racial discrimination’.

In an extraordinary statement released by the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, the group of experts said: ‘In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into conclusory findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent.’  

Responding to the criticism, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: ‘Our view is that this report misrepresents the findings. We remain proud of the UK’s long history as a human rights champion and we encourage everyone to read the original report in full.’ 

Cred was set up by the Prime Minister in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last summer despite two pending race relation reports commissioned by two previous conservative governments that are yet to be implemented.