Burnham’s best mate, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, has boasted about forming a ‘race equality’ unit which hands out contracts to Labour figures. Wheels within wheels…
Rotheram took to Reddit before Labour Conference began for an “Ask Me Anything“. His comms team mostly stuck to softball questions (like Burnham does) but the regional mayor did produce a list of his main achievements after almost a decade in the job.
Prominent in the list was the Rotheram’s establishment of a “Race Equality Hub,” born out of the Race Equality Programme he launched in the madness of summer 2020. The Hub supports “employers and agencies to enable Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic businesses to thrive, creating sustainable employment opportunities.” On 26 July 2021 the Combined Authority announced a £3.2 million budget for it, with then Labour Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson cheering it on. She was also the combined authority’s portfolio holder for Education, Skills, Equality and Diversity…
Anderson held that role from 2021 until she left office in May 2023. Before leaving, on 19 January 2023, she launched its new ‘Race Equality Panels,’ saying it was “extremely important for me to leave a lasting legacy.” By June 2024, barely a year after she left the brief, Innervision, the woke consultancy Anderson founded in 2020 and now directs, was recruiting businesses for a Race Equality Hub programme. The Hub’s page confirms the business support tender was “delivered to Innervision Consultancy” and a second cohort followed in November 2025. Including a two-day residential and a £1,500 bursary for each participant…
The first cohort of taxpayer-backed businesses includes Inclusion and Diversity in Nuclear, a firm producing “ice cream and side dishes with African inspired flavours”, and a speed dating company. Taxpayer cash is pouring into this stuff – no wonder it’s the fastest growing city region…
Burnham said in his main conference speech: “For the historic victory he achieved for us, I am here to say: thank you, Keir.”