A further case for Affirmative action.

According to the Office for National Statistics, based on 2006 estimates:

* 69.4 per cent of the 7.5 million inhabitants of London were White,
* 58 per cent White British,
* 2.5 per cent White Irish and
* 8.9 per cent classified as Other White.
* 13.1 per cent are of South Asian descent, with
* Indians making up 6.5 per cent
* Bangladeshis and Pakistanis at 2.3 per cent each.
* 2 per cent are categorised as "Other Asian".
* 10.7 per cent of London's population are Black
* 5.5 per cent being Black African,
* 4.3 per cent as Black Caribbean and
* 0.7 per cent as "Other Black".
* 3.5 per cent of Londoners are of mixed race
* 1.5 per cent are Chinese; and
* 1.9 per cent belong to another ethnic group

In short 30.6% of all Londoners are non-white.

About a week ago I wrote a piece proclaiming my conversion to the belief that the UK needs Affirmative action. As expected it caused much debate.

This week I’d like to add a little gun powder to the mix by asking why should some businesses in London still have only the odd token person of colour when almost a third of the population in London are non-white.

Pay close attention to the 8.9% classed as ‘other white’ and think about just who they are.

I worked in the City of London for over 10 years and I had never seen even one business where non-whites were proportionately represented except at the lower levels and in certain businesses i.e cleaning. Now unless things have changed it used to be the case that I would be the only black person at corporate seminars, training events or just general get together.

Yes I will admit the public sector is very different, but I suspect as you go up the ladder the imbalance returns and never for get the City/private sector earn 95% of this countries wealth. So if we are excluded from the city, I feel it is fair to say we are also excluded from true wealth.

Working in the city as I did, I considered £50K just to be a decent salary, you can imagine my shock when I heard people talking about salaries of £30k and even £20k. But I soon understood that via exclusion people were forced to align their expectations accordingly. Our graduates will earn less on a average then their graduates not because they are better educated or have better experience, but because theyir grads will get better jobs. They will get better jobs for two reasons. First the interviewers will look like them and secondly many of our graduates have simply given up looking to the city. How did I end up in the City? I guess having just come off the boat I did not know my place and simply went for the money and refused to be held back, but the lack of any support made what I did so much harder!!

What if London businesses were forced to have open recruitment policies which ensured 30% of staff were non-white? What if the same was required at all levels in a business? What if redundancies also needed to show the same balance?

What would London’s wealth profile look like in 10, 15 or 20 years? How much longer can we wait on the good will and even handedness of those who already have power? Can anyone show me an example of where such levels of one-sided dominance has being changed without a fight?