Stephen spoke in a Commons debate on Black History Month on Tuesday 20th October brought by MP for Erith and Thamesmead, Abena Oppong-Asare.
Stephen told the story of the Newham 8, a group of a group of young Asians whose case in the 1980s upheld the right of self defence and highlighted racism in the police force. He highlighted the forthcoming education pack for schools from the Newham Monitoring Project on the story. Stephen also highlighted the racially discriminatory impacts of the No Recourse to Public Funds policy, as research from the Unity Project has shown.
Stephen commented afterwards: “History teaching in schools should recognise black struggles and contributions - for example, the fight against racism in Newham. And a Race Equality Audit would expose the racial discrimination in policies like No Recourse to Public Funds.”