UK MP Josh Babarinde introduces bill for English census options
The Liberal Democrat proposes options including Black English and Asian English. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he wants to support the bill but has not examined its details.
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Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde introduced a bill on 10 November to add options such as Black English and Asian English to the census in England, party leader Ed Davey told Parliament. The bill would allow respondents in every ethnic-group category to identify as English in future censuses.
Currently, the census ethnic-group question in England offers English only within the White category. Asian, Black, mixed and other respondents can choose British options, such as “Asian or Asian British,” but do not have an English option within those categories.
Qualified support from the prime minister
At prime minister’s questions on 11 November, Davey asked Prime Minister Andy Burnham whether he would support the bill. Burnham said he thought he would want to support it, but had not looked at its details. His response was not a firm government commitment.
Babarinde told The Guardian on 9 November that Englishness was about more than skin color and that the census had not caught up. He said the bill was intended to bring people together around a shared English identity.
The bill has been introduced but has not become law, so the census options have not changed. It is a ten-minute rule bill, a type of proposal that needs the government to allocate time in the House of Commons to have a chance of becoming law.
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Sources
- Guardian WorldBurnham indicates backing for ‘black English’ and ‘Asian English’ census options – UK politics live
- Guardian WorldBurnham signals support for bill to make ‘Black English’ and ‘Asian English’ census options
- Guardian World‘Black English’ and ‘Asian English’ should be census options, MPs say