Suella Braverman has slammed “left-wing identity politics”, claiming it has labelled the countryside as “racist”.
The former Home Secretary quoted a report from the Wildlife and Countryside Link charity, which suggested the countryside is systemically racist and is an environment feared to be “dominated by white people”.
Slamming their verdict as “ridiculous”, Braverman said it is a “symptom of a deeper problem in society” and called for it to be challenged “relentlessly”.
She said: “To claim that the countryside is racist is one of the most ridiculous examples of Left-wing identity politics.
Suella Braverman has slammed “left-wing identity politics”, claiming it has labelled the countryside as “racist”
PA
“It’s a symptom of a deeper problem within our society – the urge to constantly view everything through the lens of race or gender, plead victimhood and point the finger at an oppressor.
“Whether it’s the patriarchy, or colonial masters, this desperation to divide society is ripping through our institutions, creating a culture of fear and self-censorship.
“This is why it’s essential to challenge this ideology relentlessly, wherever we see it. The premise of the charity’s bonkers report is that, as a predominantly white environment, the countryside is not welcoming to ethnic minorities.
“Sadly, we’ve come to expect this kind of hokum from civil society and the public sector. There are several problems with this approach.”
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Braverman explained: “Just because there are more white people than non-white people somewhere does not make it racist”.
She added: “Ethnic minority people tend to live in urban areas. Does that make Wembley, (where I come from and which is now a majority non-white area), racist because there are fewer white people who live there? Of course not.”
The former Home Secretary said the report did not reflect her own experience of the countryside, saying she always found it to be a “refreshing change to London”.
As well as dubbing the view “wrong and dangerous”, she also said it is based on a “naive view of the countryside”.
The report from the Wildlife and Countryside Link charity dubbed the British countryside a “racist colonial space”, saying “legacies” of colonialism have created an anvironment some fear is “dominated by white people”.
The former Home Secretary said the report did not reflect her own experience of the countryside, saying she always found it to be a “refreshing change to London”
PA
It also claimed there are “structural experiential and cultural” barriers which stop ethnic minorities from accessing the countryside.
The report explains: “Cultural barriers reflect that in the UK, it is White British cultural values that have been embedded into the design and management of green spaces, and into society’s expectations of how people should be engaging with them.”
Their report was submitted to MPs on the APPG for Race and Community, which had asked for evidence on any links between “systemic racism” and climate change.
