UK leader challenge: ‘explain or change’ race disparity

FILE: Prime Minister Theresa May (Photo By Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, OGL 3)

LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May is challenging Britain to “explain or change” racial disparity throughout society, as the government prepares to publish data on how different ethnic groups are treated.

May says businesses and public institutions must ensure race is never a barrier to people achieving their goals in life.

The so-called racial disparity audit to be released as a website Tuesday compiles statistics on some 130 topics to show how people from all backgrounds are treated by the health, education, employment and criminal justice systems.

May says “people who have lived with discrimination don’t need a government audit to make them aware of the scale of the challenge. But this audit means that for society as a whole — for government, for our public services — there is nowhere to hide.”