AYJ joins coalition demanding that Greater Manchester Police revoke discriminatory policy

Alongside 11 other organisations, the AYJ has signed a letter led by AYJ member, JUSTICE, calling on Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City Council, and the Independent Advisory Group to retract a discriminatory letter sent to a number of individuals, including children, informing recipients that they will be refused entry to the Caribbean Carnival of Manchester due to reasons relating to their perceived ‘gang’ affiliations, including being “a member of a street gang”, “affiliated to a street gang”, “perceived by others to be associated to a street gang”.

As set out in JUSTICE’s press release, the vague and undefined standards used to justify the barring of entry to certain individuals to the event are an ‘open door’ to racist policing, based on discriminatory and unjustified speculation. The joint letter demands clarity on the policy’s legal basis and consultation process, and outlines how the policy breaches the Greater Manchester Police’s and Manchester City Council’s equality and human rights-based legal obligations, the Police Code of Ethics, and contradicts the aims and objectives of the Greater Manchester Police’s Equality Panel.

The joint letter can be found here.