CRE defends its response to riots

One man was stabbed to death in the clashes in Lozells

The head of Britain's race watchdog has defended its reaction to the race riots in the Lozells area of Birmingham.

Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) head Trevor Phillips said he had spoken to local groups who had warned about tensions and tried to calm them.

"The fact that I have not been on the airwaves does not mean that the CRE is not doing anything," he said.

Two people died and many more were injured after clashes between black and Asian youths the weekend before last.

My worry is that it's pursuing all the soft cultural options Lord Ouseley Former CRE chief

Mr Phillips said he had "spoken at length" to groups in the area of Birmingham where the riots took place - some of whom had predicted that rising racial tensions might explode.

He added that he was due to return to the area for further meetings on Monday.

In response to criticism from former CRE chief Lord Herman Ouseley, Mr Phillips said: "The fact that I don't need to tell the whole world about that is perhaps an indication that I am serious about doing something rather than just talking about it."

Lord Ouseley accused the CRE, under Mr Phillips, of neglecting the "hard-edged" issues of urban deprivation and discrimination that fuel such racial tensions.

"My worry is that it's pursuing all the soft cultural options."

'Grand-standing'

He also said it was "rather curious" that there had been so much talk from the CRE about "sleep-walking" into segregation and debate about the terms multi-culturalism and coloured, but nothing about what had happened in Lozells.

But he added: "It may be that the CRE are doing a lot of work but we don't hear of it."

Mr Phillips said the last thing the people of Birmingham needed in this difficult situation was people "grand-standing" and "showing off their egos".

And he stressed that the debate he had opened up about different racial groups living separate lives in separate areas was completely relevant to the Birmingham riots.

"We live, many of us, in a different world than the people who live in Lozells.

Mr Phillips said most people had no idea what life was like in Lozells

"Therefore we have absolutely no idea what's going on with them.

"It's hardly surprising that when they do something that seems shocking, which breaks into the headlines for a few hours that we all say 'Oh my God, how did this happen?'"

This would continue to be the case unless equality and issues of segregation were tackled so that people of different kinds interacted with each other, he said.

"What appears to be a relatively tranquil scene, such as people in Birmingham were saying about Lozells... can hide tensions and the brittleness of the community which becomes shattered when some difficult or unfortunate event takes place."

The clashes broke out after concerns prompted by rumours about a teenage girl being attacked by a gang of Asian youths were aired at a local community meeting.

Police had to intervene when uninvited people started forcing their way into the New Testament Church of God during a meeting about the allegations.

It followed a week of mounting tension among the black and Asian communities in the Lozells area.