Skip to main content
Advertise Buy the paper Contact us Shop Subscribe Support us
Progress in Wales on racism
The devolved Welsh Parliament is not able to overrule Westminster itself, but it has taken a radically different path from the Tories' right-wing, anti-migrant agenda, reports SHAVANAH TAJ

THE government is on a racist offensive. They are actively seeking out ways to remove rights, dismiss lived experience and repeatedly fail to deal with undisputable evidence of institutional and structural racism.

Under this Prime Minister the scapegoating of refugees and migrants continues unabated. The Nationality and Borders Bill attempts to effectively remove the right to seek asylum, penalising people who by definition are in need of shelter.

A couple of years ago I visited the Penally Camp, an old disused army barracks the government were using as lodgings for asylum-seekers. The Welsh TUC campaigned with grassroots organisations, lobbying the Welsh government to back our calls for the UK government to shut it down — which they eventually did. At that point I struggled to imagine what could make their lives harder, but unsurprisingly this government have managed to come up with something that does just that.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 16 March 2024
16 March 2024
SHAVANAH TAJ argues that with bigot MPs like Lee Anderson and big donors like Frank Hester leading the charge against minorities, Welsh unions must stand firm and restate their anti-racist, internationalist politics
Features / 6 October 2022
6 October 2022
Cardiff remains a profoundly unequal city – if politicians and bosses won't do something, workers have to, argues Wales TUC general secretary SHAVANAH TAJ
Features / 17 July 2021
17 July 2021
A new Race Equality Action Plan from the Welsh government is a welcome first step – but the real challenge will be to implement it, says Wales TUC leader SHAVANAH TAJ
Features / 24 May 2021
24 May 2021
As Wales TUC gears up for its annual congress, SHAVANAH TAJ takes a look at some of the priorities on the horizon for trade unionists
Similar stories
TUC Racial Discrimination and Equality Conference ’24 / 4 December 2024
4 December 2024
Features / 16 March 2024
16 March 2024
SHAVANAH TAJ argues that with bigot MPs like Lee Anderson and big donors like Frank Hester leading the charge against minorities, Welsh unions must stand firm and restate their anti-racist, internationalist politics
Features / 16 March 2024
16 March 2024
The revelation of Frank Hester’s hateful comments, coupled with the Conservative Party's Islamophobia, shows institutional racism still survives in mainstream politics — that is why we are marching, writes SABBY DHALU
Features / 25 January 2024
25 January 2024
Anti-racism is indivisible from class struggle: sometimes we need to find ways to bring black and white workers together but also it can mean black self-organisation, writes ROGER McKENZIE