Senior MPs from across the political spectrum are calling for the census to allow Britons to describe themselves as both black and English, arguing that the current ethnicity options are out of step with public attitudes.
The campaign is being led by the Liberal Democrat president, Josh Babarinde, with support from prominent figures including former deputy prime minister David Lammy, former foreign secretary James Cleverly, Conservative MP Mark Pritchard and Layla Moran, the Lib Dem chair of the health select committee.
The cross-party effort amounts to a direct response to Reform UK politicians who have argued that people from minority ethnic backgrounds cannot hold English ethnic identity. Supporters of the change point out that under the current census definition, 60% of England's World Cup squad would not technically count as English.
"I'm a proud Englishman and Englishness is about more than the colour of your skin," Babarinde said. "Most people in this country already agree that you don't have to be white to be English. Just look at the England football team. But our census hasn't properly caught up."
MPs behind the bill have been sharply critical of remarks by Suella Braverman, the Reform UK MP and former Conservative home secretary, who said she did not regard herself as ethnically English because of her south Asian heritage. Braverman said she did not take "a 'laissez-faire, anything-goes' attitude to ethnicity, citizenship and identity," adding: "I take the conservative approach. Englishness is an ethnicity. There have been English people for centuries and we need to recognise this more if we are to start taking a more muscular approach to citizenship and nationality. And no, it's not racist to say this."
At present, the census in England offers "English" only within the "White" category of the ethnic group question, even though around 11% of the UK-born population in England and Wales, roughly 5 million people, come from a minority ethnic background. Asian, black, mixed and other respondents can call themselves British, such as "Asian or Asian British," but have no way to identify as English. The censuses in Scotland and Wales, by contrast, include options such as "Scottish Asian" and "Black Welsh."
Babarinde is due to table a 10-minute rule bill on Tuesday, and MPs from several parties will back it. Such bills rarely become law but serve as a way for MPs to highlight policy issues. The proposal would require future censuses in England to let respondents in every ethnic category identify as English. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Labour's Adam Jogee and the Lib Dems' Munira Wilson are also supporting the measure.
"This bill is about standing up to those want to gatekeep Englishness exclusively for white people and standing up to those who seek to divide us over who counts as English. This is about bringing people together around our shared Englishness," Babarinde said.
Braverman's comments have drawn criticism even from within Reform UK. Party chair Zia Yusuf distanced himself from her position, saying: "I'm a Chelsea fan and in my view Ashley Cole is the best English fullback in history, and I won't take any other position. So in my view, Ashley Cole is English. The argument that he's not English doesn't hold water with me."
