Britain: 'If all black politicians dropped dead, few would mourn'

• Lack of Leadership in Black Community Not Unique to US

The award-winning poet Benjamin Zephaniah has accused black politicians of neglecting the needs of black people in Britain so direly as to be responsible for a "crisis of leadership in the black community". In an extraordinary attack, Zephaniah, who last year turned down an OBE in protest at its evocation of empire, said: "I think if all the black politicians now just dropped dead, hardly anybody [from the black community] would mourn. Nothing like they were mourning for Bernie Grant" - the late MP for Tottenham. Zephaniah, who defines himself as a "grass roots activist" as well as a writer, said he had great hopes for improvements in the lives of black people in Britain when the Labour government was elected in 1997. But he is disappointed by how little has been achieved. "Where are these people who are supposed to be speaking up for our concerns? Most of them have become Blair babes and they're in it for themselves. They'll turn up and make their statement; they'll come to the photo opportunity. But they're not with us in the struggle." [more ]