Today I will be wearing red for "Show Racism the Red Card" an All Party Parliamentary Group I have long been a supporter of. There is sometimes criticism of these groups, but ones like SRtRC bring Parliamentarians together on a cross party basis to tackle issues that are not Party political. The group includes Labour, Conservative and SNP MPs and this week we held the AGM but last week there was a great event at Southampton Football Club, bringing young people into the Club and helping them highlight awareness of racism.
Racism of a different sort has been evident this week, and was a recurring theme at PMQs. Reports of both Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have increased in the last two weeks and there can be no place for either in the UK. I always say Southampton and Hampshire are lucky to have a vibrant inter-faith community, who work hard to tackle intolerance. However, it is not luck, it is due to the hard work of a few very dedicated individuals that our communities are broadly speaking understanding of difference.
Talking of difference, for a change this week I was a member of a Select Committee rather than Chair, when I was a guest on the Treasury Select Committee. It was a fascinating session on Sexism in the City, and a good opportunity for me to see how other Committees work.
