‘Culture wars’ row over parliamentary report’s attack on use of term ‘white privilege’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A furious “culture wars” row has erupted at Westminster over a report that blames the use of the term “white privilege” for undermining the educational chances of white working-class children. The majority report, released on Tuesday after being voted through by the committee’s six Conservative members, voiced concerns that the use of the phrase “white privilege” – increasingly widespread since the murder of George Floyd and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement – “may be alienating to disadvantaged white communities and it may have contributed towards a systemic neglect of white people facing hardship who also need specific support”. Finding that white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are “far from privileged” in the education system, it recommended that schools should consider whether they are breaching equality duties by promoting “politically controversial terminology including white privilege”. “I think there is a specific agenda here which borders into aligning itself with legitimising narratives which are quite dangerous around white supremacy.” Ms Begum said that while she could understand that many white working-class people would not feel that concepts of “privilege” applied to them, it would be “very concerning” if the government seized on the report as a justification for withdrawing funding from organisations that use the term.