Council ‘condoning racism’ claims Stephenson

Veteran civil rights campaigner Paul Stephenson has warned Bristol City Council that its decision to hire a controversial former headteacher as an educational consultant is tantamount to condoning racism.

Yesterday, Bristol24/7 revealedYesterday, Bristol24/7 revealed that Gill Kelly, the former principal at City Academy in Redfield, had been hired as a consultant by Bristol City Council, just months after development worker David McLeod won a landmark victory against the academy, when an employment tribunal found he had been the victim of racial discrimination.

Speaking exclusively to Bristol24/7 Mr Stephenson, who led the Bristol bus boycott in the 1960s, said Bristol City Council has sent out the “wrong message” by hiring Ms Kelly.

“I call on Bristol City Council to inquire how they came to the view that race relations in Bristol will be served by someone who allowed race relations in law to be ignored, and now benefits from the discrimination which was… accepted by the employment tribunal. It is a typical way of not doing anything – talking about it, but not acting on it,” he said.

‘Great victory’

Mr Stephenson said it is hard enough to take a case of racial discrimination to a tribunal and when discrimination is proved the verdict should be enforced: “In David McLeod’s case it was a great victory, but we need to keep the momentum now to keep that moving and not just say ‘You’ve won the case. Here is the compensation money, let’s carry on as we’ve done before’.

“I feel that Bristol has slid into a culture that still can’t come to terms with the fact that black people are here to stay, and they will fight for their rights and they will push race relations to a situation where they feel comfortable living in English society.

“We still have a long way to go on race. There is a sense that there is a cultural feeling that race is something that you can wonder about, but not do much. There is a sense that confronting racism tends to make the situation worse rather than better the enforcement of race regulations.”

A petition has been set up by David McLeod and Paul Stephenson demanding racism is stamped out in schools. They are hoping to present the petition to the council on Thursday. The integration and race equality minister Stephen Williams MP (Bristol West) has asked for a meeting with Mr McLeod and Mr Stephenson on Friday.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said Gill Kelly is providing consultancy on a part-time, fixed-term basis to develop a new employability initiative in schools.

She added: “Ms Kelly was engaged following interview on the strength of her extensive experience in curriculum leadership.

“Contractors and consultants are required to adhere to requirements of the Equality Act 2010 in the same way as all direct council appointments, and the public sector equality duties to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between communities are highly relevant to this role.

“The council has a clear commitment to addressing disadvantage and inequality”