The legacy of Stephen Lawrence – 30 years on

Join the TUC and Dr Neville Lawrence on the 30th anniversary marking the death of Stephen Lawrence and the ongoing fight to secure racial justice.

On 22 April 1993, Stephen Lawrence, aged 18, was racially attacked and murdered by a group of white men. His attackers were arrested but never charged. The handling of the case by the Met Police was riddled with racism.

Four years after the murder, the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, launched a public inquiry into his death that found the Metropolitan Police to be institutionally racist, and that this had obstructed the arrest and conviction of Stephen’s murderers.

This is what led the TUC to establish its first anti-racism task group – the Stephen Lawrence Task Group – to oversee the work of trade unions to tackle institutional racism.

Decades on, institutional racism still remains a challenge at work and in wider society. The trade union movement will continue to call out and challenge racism whenever and wherever it exists.