Thread on how media protects Trevor Phillips:

An hour ago BBC Radio 4's #BroadcastingHouse had Trevor Phillips on as a 'paper reviewer'.

He was given free reign to attack people expressing concern about his appointment to look into the BAME Covid19 death rate disparity.

Trevor Phillips slickly aimed his fiercest attack at the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) - and ignored all other BAME people and voices who have expressed concern about his appointment.

In reality his appointment was met with extreme disgust across all BAME communities.

As Trevor Phillips attacked people critical of his appointment there was no robust challenge or push-back. He was given free reign.

More notably (and par the course) when it comes to Trevor Phillips: there was no BAME person present to put things in proper context.

On Friday Trevor Phillips did at least 3 media interviews announcing his appointment by @PHE_uk. Again: no one questioned if he was the right person for the job given his record of clear anti-BAME racism.

More importantly: there was no BAME person panelled alongside him.

When Trevor Phillips spoke on TalkRadio on Friday, Dr Sonia Adesara (a BAME NHS doctor) was supposed to speak after him. She intended to bring up the issue of racism. With no announcement or explanation, she was dropped. They simply moved onto the next item.

Months ago Trevor Phillips was on Question Time doing his silly 'if I had a black son' routine. Again he was give extensive free reign to say whatever he pleased about the black community.

Again, there was no black or even BAME person on the panel to challenge him.

For at least a decade everyone has known that Trevor Phillips is an ill-respected headline chasing yes man. He is stomached by establishment figures because for attention and (I suspect) remuneration they know he will say what they want to hear - especially on racism.

We have a clear media pattern:

1. Where there is a racism issue invite Trevor Phillips on.
2. Do not invite other (especially strong) BAME people on to challenge him.
3. Do not put him in proper context.
4. Convey authority on him ("former chair of EHRC").
5. Free reign

The implication to the non-racist audience (and perhaps the belief of non-racist producers and presenters) is: 'Trevor Phillips is a reputable black man and he is therefore unbiased and would never uphold or tolerate racism or racist structures'

Sadly, the opposite is true.

Now, partly due to the fact that media protected and promoted Trevor Phillips we have a situation in which he has been appointed to a job of sacred importance to BAME people and our society.

This is a disaster, a disgrace and an insult to all BAME medics who died fight Covid19

So how do we move forward?

It is no secret in media: Trevor Phillips is a rent-a-gob. And such people make good copy and segments.

Hence forth though: having him on without an equally platformed anti-racist BAME presence will be viewed as an act of calculated media racism.

Covid19 has revealed that trust in our industry (broadcast and print) is at rock bottom. This is of course unsustainable and unacceptable.

In BAME communities how we have behaved with people like Trevor Phillips has helped decimate any trust in us.

BBC Question Time: 3 minutes of unmitigated free reign. No push back. No challenge. No equally platformed BAME presence. Just head nodding and applause.

We never see or hear him in the black community. Doesn't talk to us but gets paid to talk about us. https://twitter.com/bbcquestiontime/status/1220476517668532224

I'm not implying there is a conspiracy here. It is more about culture, competence, a lack of real & muscular diversity and the power of saying what people want to hear than conspiracy.

I'll end with a riddle: name another pushing-70 male black Brit regularly in the news media?

Apologies for the dozens of embarrassing typos in this.

InfluencHer, a group of 100 influential black women have written an open letter to @PHE_uk calling for Trevor Phillips to be replaced in the BAME Covid19 death rate disparity inquiry. http://influencher.org/index.php/2020/04/26/an-open-letter-to-public-health-england-playing-racial-politics-with-a-pandemic/