MPs back calls for ‘Black English’ and ‘Asian English’ options on census

Liberal Democrat Josh Babarinde wins cross-party backing for proposed changes to ethnicity categories, telling Parliament he has received death threats for arguing that people do not have to be white to be English

A cross-party group of MPs is calling for Black English, Asian English and Mixed English to become official census categories, arguing that the current system prevents millions of people from properly identifying their English heritage.

Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde introduced legislation in the House of Commons yesterday, seeking to change how ethnicity is recorded in England, with support from senior Labour and Conservative politicians including David Lammy and Sir James Cleverly.

The proposed English Ethnic Identity (Census Particulars) Bill, which Babarinde has dubbed the St George’s Bill, would expand the ethnicity options available to respondents without removing existing categories.

Under the 2021 census arrangements, English appeared as an option within the White ethnic group, while Black and Asian respondents were offered British identities but no equivalent English categories.

Babarinde, the MP for Eastbourne, told Parliament that similar distinctions already exist elsewhere in Britain, with the Welsh census offering a Black Welsh category and Scotland recognising Scottish Asian identities.

He said: “In the ethnicity question in the census, the only box that says ‘English’ sits under the ‘White’ category. If you are black, the form offers you ‘Black British’, and if you are Asian, it offers you ‘Asian British’ – but not ‘English’.”

The politician, who was born in England to parents of Nigerian heritage, said he had received racist abuse and death threats since announcing his proposals.

Opening his Commons speech, he asked whether someone had to be white to be English, before describing the hostility he had encountered.

“I am a proud Englishman. I have proud Nigerian heritage, but my parents and I were born in England. We grew up in England. Our home is in England,” he said.

“Yet some voices attempt to reduce Englishness to a skin colour and to a bloodline.”

Babarinde read examples of threats he said he had received, including messages telling him he would never be English and should leave the country.

He described the abuse as “death threats for daring to say that you do not have to be white to be English”.

The Liberal Democrat also challenged arguments that English identity should be determined by ancestry, citing successive waves of migration and the country’s historical links with northern Europe.

“English ethnicity is real, but it is a matter of historical fact that it has never been one bloodline,” he told MPs.

His speech referenced the Angles, Danes, Normans, Flemish weavers, French Huguenots, the Windrush generation and Ugandan Asian immigrants, as well as the German ancestry of the Royal Family.

Babarinde cited research by More in Common which, he said, found that 74 per cent of people believed someone could be English regardless of their skin colour.

And he recalled the racist abuse directed at England footballers following the men’s European Championship final in July 2021, when three Black players missed penalties against Italy.

According to Babarinde, the incident demonstrated how some people questioned the English identity of minority ethnic citizens despite their contributions to national life.

The proposed legislation would allow census respondents to select more specific English ethnic identities while retaining existing options, including White English, Black British and Asian British.

Babarinde said the additional categories would reflect how individuals already identified themselves, arguing that politicians should not determine who was entitled to describe themselves as English.

The proposal has secured backing from across Parliament, with its sponsors including Labour’s David Lammy and Adam Jogee, Conservatives Sir James Cleverly, Ben Obese-Jecty and Mark Pritchard, and Liberal Democrats Victoria Collins, Munira Wilson and Layla Moran.

Babarinde also cited former prime minister Rishi Sunak, former deputy prime minister Lammy, footballer Ian Wright, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and actress Cynthia Erivo as examples of prominent figures whose English identities raised questions about the existing census categories.

The House of Commons agreed to allow the Bill to be introduced under the Ten Minute Rule procedure, with no MP delivering a speech opposing it.

It subsequently received its first reading and has been scheduled for a second reading on Friday, 23 April 2027, St George’s Day.

However, as a backbench private member’s bill, its prospects of becoming law remain uncertain without sufficient parliamentary time and support.

Concluding his speech, Babarinde said: “Let the next generation never have to ask whether they are allowed to be English. Let the next generation never have to wonder if the St George’s flag represents them.”

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_{Main image: MPs are calling for Black English, Asian English and Mixed English to be recognised as official ethnic identities in the national census, arguing that the current classifications fail to reflect the diversity of modern England. The proposed legislation, introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde with cross-party support, would allow people from minority ethnic backgrounds to identify as English without having to select the existing White English category. Credit: Chris S / Pexels}