LABOUR said a new commission on racial equalities announced by Boris Johnson was “dead on arrival” today after it emerged that its organiser had cast doubt on the existence of institutional racism.

The Prime Minister announced that he would launch the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities after a wave of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests took place across Britain and worldwide, triggered by the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of US police.

However Mr Johnson’s head of policy Munira Mirza has previously questioned whether institutional racism exists and suggested that there is a “culture of grievance” among anti-racism campaigners.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy condemned her heavy involvement with the commission and accused Mr Johnson of waging a “culture war.”

The Tottenham MP, who three years ago led a review of how black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are treated by the justice system, argued that the involvement of Ms Mirza “further undermines” Mr Johnson’s commission.

Mr Lammy said: “My review was welcomed by all parties – [Jeremy] Corbyn, [David] Cameron and [Theresa] May. But Munira Mirza went out of her way to attack it.”

He has also criticised Mr Johnson’s decision to launch another review rather than taking action, saying that several have already taken place.

Downing Street defended Ms Mirza’s involvement, with Mr Johnson’s official spokesman saying that the commission would be chaired by an “independent figure” who will be announced “in due course.”

Ms Mirza used an article on the Spiked website to criticise the Lammy review in September 2017.

She wrote: “Certainly there is a historic legacy here from previous decades, but it is equally possible that the current accusations of institutional racism by lobbyists and activists – a perception more than a reality – is behind the further corrosion of public trust.”

In a Sun article the same month, she claimed: “By appeasing the anti-racism lobby and affirming its culture of grievance, public institutions and business leaders are not making Britain a fairer place but harming the very people they aspire to help.”

Mr Johnson provoked a backlash this week when he said that he wanted to stop the “sense of” victimisation and discrimination.

Yesterday, he acknowledged that racism “unquestionably” existed in Britain.

Downing Street said that the review would also examine white working-class boys’ poor educational outcomes.