CAMPAIGNERS are calling for the government to stamp out institutional racism in response to new figures showing that a high proportion of black, Asian and minority-ethnic (BAME) children were arrested last year.

Some 60 per cent of children arrested by the Metropolitan Police last year were from BAME backgrounds, the Howard League for Penal Reform has found.

This was the highest proportion recorded by any force in England and Wales, in a policing area with a 40 per cent BAME population, raising concerns of “severe” disproportionality in the justice system.