Cameron attacks race bias in courts and universities

David Cameron has asked David Lammy to look into discrimination in the justice system

English universities will be forced to disclose the proportion of ethnic minority applicants that get places as part of a drive against discrimination.

David Cameron said transparency would force top universities like Oxford to work harder to broaden their intake.

He warned the police, the courts and the armed forces they also had to act.

He has launched a review of apparent racial bias in the English and Welsh justice systems to be headed by Labour MP David Lammy.

Mr Cameron said black people were "more likely to be in a prison cell than studying at a top university".

'Stamp it out'

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said discrimination should "shame our country and jolt us to action".

"I don't care whether it's overt, unconscious or institutional - we've got to stamp it out," he wrote.

The PM rejected what he called "politically correct, contrived and unfair solutions" like quotas, but said forcing English universities to disclose what proportion of black and minority ethnic applicants achieved places should prompt them to broaden their intake.

Mr Cameron said it was "striking" that Oxford University's 2014 intake of more than 2,500 people included only 27 black students.

"I know the reasons are complex, including poor schooling, but I worry that the university I was so proud to attend is not doing enough to attract talent from across our country," he added.

"It's disgraceful that if you're black, it seems you're more likely to be sentenced to custody for a crime than if you're white," Mr Cameron said.

"We should investigate why this is and how we can end this possible discrimination."

'Transparency helps'

He also noted that there are no black generals in the UK armed forces, and "just 4% of chief executives in the FTSE 100 are from ethnic minorities".

"What does this say about modern Britain? Are these just the symptoms of class divisions or a lack of equal opportunity? Or is it something worse - something more ingrained, institutional and insidious?"

Sajid Javid says he wants to help schools and universities do more to tackle racial bias

He said under-representation in the police and armed forces was a "stubborn problem", and organisations should go the "extra mile" to show they are open to all.

Education chiefs are to hold talks with Business Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr show "transparency always helps but I think more measures will be required and I want to sit down with universities and discuss what more can be done and then help them achieve that".

He said he was concerned about "unconscious" bias in the education system, adding: "As a young man I remember being called 'Paki' in the playground and being punched because of my colour.

"We have moved on since then but we still need to do more work."

The Russell Group, which represents 24 leading UK universities, said "real progress" had been made in the last five years to increase the number of black and minority ethnic students.

But director general Wendy Piatt said universities "cannot solve this problem alone".

"There are still far too many children from disadvantaged backgrounds underachieving at school and receiving poor advice and guidance," she said.

David Lammy's review of the courts in England and Wales will look at the "over-representation" of black and minority ethnic defendants.

"With over a quarter of the prison population coming from a BAME background, the urgency here is clear," said the Labour MP, whose report will be published in spring 2017.

Downing Street said 61% of black and minority ethnic defendants found guilty in crown courts were given custodial sentences, compared with 56% of white offenders.

Government data published in 2013 suggested that, in each year from 2008 to 2012, black offenders were more likely to have been jailed than white offenders by courts in England and Wales.

Government figures suggest BAME people make up 14% of the population of England and Wales.