What Huq said is indefensible but rather tame compared to what is business as usual for the “natural party of government” in the UK.
With no sway over the media, unpopularity in the Labour party, and a passionately
righteous and therefore easily bamboozled base, the avowedly anti-racist left are the only segment of mainstream politics without an umbrella. As a result, they are just one mistake, bad joke or poorly worded statement away from disgrace and destruction. The last thing any anti-racist would do is roll out their ethnic minority colleagues to run interference for them. So, when the faux-outrage machine kicks in, decades of anti-racism work and hard-earned reputations evaporate in a blink of an eye or the accidental liking of a social media post. This renders actual anti-racism a political risk, one with almost no sign of potential for reward.
As it showed with its diverse leadership contest, in which all of the candidates endorsed the Rwanda deportation policy, the Conservative party is a global leader at the optical illusion of appearing progressive on race while actually being alarmingly regressive. Conservatives are playing Grand Theft Auto while the left of the Labour party plays Tetris. The liberal belief that diversity would have a mellowing or eradicating effect on racism has proven to be a costly fallacy. Despite its necessity and virtuous nature, diversity is no substitute for genuine anti-racism: standing up for ethnic minorities when they are attacked, standing by them in moments of need, and fighting for their rights.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/29/rupa-huq-wrong-left-singled-out-racist-kwasi-kwartengSomething something double standards etc
