Guidelines for high-profile cases aim to counter misinformation but critics warn of unintended consequences
Yvette Cooper solves one headache for justice system but may have caused another
Plans to disclose the ethnicity and immigration status of criminal suspects in the UK have been condemned by race campaigners for setting a dangerous precedent for “dog-whistle politics”, which will make “Black and brown communities more vulnerable”.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has welcomed new police guidelines released on Wednesday which encourage forces to release the race and nationality of those charged in high-profile cases.
It is meant to combat misinformation on social media, which spread last summer after the murder of three schoolgirls in Southport. False information about the killer’s nationality, religion and asylum status fuelled widespread unrest throughout the country.
