I was glad to be invited to attend a meeting of the IP3 Good Neighbourhood Scheme (“IP3”) yesterday evening to say a few words and hear about the work that they have been doing to benefit the local community.

The group covers a big chunk of the Southeast of Town in Holywells, Gainsborough, Priory Heath, and some of Bixley and during what has been a really tough year they have stepped up to support the area. They have been handing out food parcels, collecting prescriptions, and talking to vulnerable people on the telephone. They have also done a lot of litter picking!

I was privileged to be asked to speak at the Ipswich Christian Leaders Conference last Thursday.

Our Churches have played a crucial role over the past year. They have had to adapt and change in ways I can’t imagine any were expecting but they’ve been successful in doing so.

Not only have they provided invaluable spiritual and mental support to huge numbers across Town through initiatives such as the BASIC community pop-up shops they have also providing a great deal of practical support to those most in need.

Despite calling for one for the last 2 years it’s a shame that the local Labour Party refuse to introduce a proper local residency requirement for council housing. Local people get slight preference, that’s it as it stands.

What we need is a firm policy. Local Conservatives are proposing a new system that would mean you would have to live in Ipswich for at least 6 years before you’re eligible. They’ve studied other local authorities who have done this. No reason why we can’t do it here in Ipswich.

There is a long waiting list in the thousands for council properties. Let’s properly back local residents for all properties.

On Tuesday, Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch spoke in Parliament about the release of the Sewell Report on Race and Ethnic Disparities as well as some of the abuse the commissioners had been facing from organisations and even from Labour Members of Parliament.

I wanted to raise with the Minister concerns about certain organisations pre-judging the Sewell report for political ends without actually fairly assessing the findings.

One concerning example is the Runnymede Trust which organised a campaign against the report over a week before it was even published and broadcasted a livestream event with Patrick Vernon, Chair of Labour’s Race Equality Advisory Group where they argued that the report authors were equivalent to “Holocaust deniers being asked to develop a strategy on antisemitism”.

I asked if the Minister agreed that not only does this kind of bad faith political action undermine the Runnymede Trust’s charitable objective of improving race relations, but that their shameful treatment of the report’s commissioners may actually discourage ethnic minorities from contributing to public life and public debate.

The Minister explained that the action was part of the climate of intimidation surrounding the report’s authors and outlined how the Runnymede Trust is now the subject of a complaint to the Charity Commission.

One of these complaints describes some of the horrific behaviour of the Trust’s CEO and staff towards ethnic minorities who have a different approach to racial equality. Kemi Badenoch explained that it included calling a black Conservative a “house negro” as well as horrific views on mixed-race relationships expressed by one staff member comparing white people having relationships with black people to slave masters sleeping with their slaves. I do not believe that these actions are appropriate for a charity committed to racial equality.

It is notable as well that just before I spoke, the Labour MP, Dawn Butler even accused Kemi Badenoch of being a “racial gatekeeper”. Kemi replied that it was disgusting behaviour and that the fact that Dawn Butler MP stood up in Parliament to ‘use that phrase without any shame whatsoever just shows how far the Labour party has fallen’.

It is clear to me that some people are simply unable to have rational debates about these topics. I think it was right for Kemi Badenoch to condemn the attacks on the authors of the report and to fight back against the insults thrown at her from Labour MPs. Ultimately, it is ok for people to disagree about what to do with the findings of the report, but it is not ok to spread misinformation about the report or its authors.