Far-right pundit sues charity supporting Black people

A far-right influencer is suing the charity 10,000 Interns, claiming their trailblazing schemes supporting Black people are “anti-white”.

Since 2020, 10,000 Interns have created thousands of paid internships to help young Black people overcome obstacles to achieve their ambitions. But Sophie Corcoran – a white Durham graduate, who is a regular guest on GB News – said she was “shocked” to discover that the charity’s scheme with the Bar Council was restricted to Black people.

The challenge – backed by Restore Britain founder Rupert Lowe MP – claims that she has faced loss of employment opportunity and discrimination under the Equality Act. But schemes taking action to address inequality are perfectly legal.

We know racism is real. Thanks to decades of hard work and bravery from people of colour and their allies, we’ve made some progress in the UK. But too many people across the country are still living, every day, with the reality of racism – on the street, at school, and in work.

Just look at the facts. Last year 4.3% of white people in the UK were unemployed. For people of colour the rate was 8.8% (PDF). And when Black people apply for graduate-level jobs, they are 33% less likely to be hired than white people from a similar background.

The far right are denying this reality, parroting the MAGA movement and helping Trump to export hate and bigotry across the Atlantic. Last year, UK financial regulators rolled back proposals to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector. And we’ve witnessed US-based philanthropic foundations cave to pressure from the US government and withdraw funding for UK projects that support disadvantaged communities.

According to 10,000 Interns CEO Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell, these attacks bear no relation to the facts on the ground.

“We’ve been on this mission since 2020,” Ajulu-Bushell said, “because young Black people are still vastly underrepresented at entry level in the workforce and every level above that.

“Our program continues to address this fact, and now we’re being sued. I believe that this legal challenge is designed to intimidate us, to distract us, to tire us out. But we’re not going to give up.”

Good Law Project is supporting 10,000 Interns in its legal case.