Yvette Cooper wants guidance to change after row over claims police ‘covered up’ status of two men on charges relating to an alleged rape
Anti-racism campaigners have criticised proposals to allow police to reveal the ethnicity and migration status of suspects, after a row triggered by claims police “covered up” the backgrounds of two men charged in connection to the alleged rape of a child.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, this week told the BBC she hoped the Law Commission would “accelerate” a review of contempt of court and that “guidance needs to change” about information released when a trial is pending.
But the anti-racism group the Runnymede Trust – which this month claimed “hostile language” from politicians and the media towards immigration was fuelling “reactionary politics” – says the proposals risk framing violence against women and girls as an issue of ethnicity instead of misogyny.
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said the proposals would “undermine” justice.
