Equality

Business and Equalities Secretary Kemi Badenoch has dubbed research from the Museum of London “unreliable”, accusing the organisation of using statistics to “whip up tensions around history and racism”.

Posting on X, Badenoch said that by publishing a study that suggests black women were more likely to have died during an outbreak of plague in the 14th Century, the museum was “undermining social cohesion in our country”.

Badenoch criticised the sample size and methods used by researchers, as well as comparisons made between the Black Death and the Covid pandemic. 

In a letter to the museum seen by The Times, she said: “It is imperative that ethnic minorities feel able to trust our healthcare institutions and that they are given accurate information about health outcomes based on robust evidence.

It is also important that evidence, be it historical or current, is not presented in a way that is misleading or that implies that the information is reliable when it is not.”
 

Research that aims to compile a history of record shops specialising in Black music from the 1950s onwards has received a £247,494 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Led by Leicester-based organisation 2Funky Arts, the project called 'The Record Store and Black Music, A UK History' will produce a film, publication, podcast series and educational resource using collected interviews with artists, DJs, store owners and customers as well as documentation.

Describing the work as “groundbreaking”, 2Funky Arts said: “For the Windrush generation and Black diaspora, the early independent UK record store was a music-fuelled vehicle for resistance against systemic racism. 

“Such sites became fertile ground for new music, and cultural eco-systems that shaped society’s relationship with Black music.”

Arts Marketing Association (AMA) is trialling a four-day working week.

The trial, which began yesterday (2 October) and will run until the end of March 2024, will see the remote working organisation adopt a standardised Monday to Thursday, while retaining flexibility for staff to adjust their working pattern and days accordingly.

Full time AMA staff members will reduce their hours from 40 to 32 per week during the trail, with no reduction in salary.

The announcement sees the organisation become the latest in the cultural sector to adopt the working pattern, following in the footsteps of organisations such as Flatpack Festival and 64 Million Artists.

AMA Head of Operations and Events, Danielle Patrick, said equity was a big factor in the move.

“Typically, women take on more unpaid work outside of their paid working hours. At the AMA, we have a majority female team, so this helps to redress that balance," Patrick said.

"It gives staff more free time for leisure, supports those with children or other caring responsibilities, and benefits those with long-term health conditions.

“We’d like to thank Flatpack Festival for being so generous in sharing their experiences with us, and 64 Million Artists for being a source of inspiration.”