Race campaigners condemn plans to disclose ethnicity of criminal suspects

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 "dogwhistle politics", that will make "black and brown communities more vulnerable".

- Rajeev Syal

The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has welcomed new police guidelines released yesterday that 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 unrest throughout the country.

But race campaigners believe it may encourage focus on the racial background of suspects, and will lead to further rightwing conspiracy theories when information is not released to the public.

Enny Choudhury, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: "Releasing the ethnicity of everyone suspected of serious crimes will... simply fuel mistrust, deepen divisions, and make black and brown communities more vulnerable to prejudice and harm.

"Some point to cases like Southport, where rumours were quashed by releasing specific information. But building a blanket policy around this is dangerous," she said.