NCB response to rise in racism in the UK

Published

29 Sep 2025

The NCB family stands against racism in all its forms and completely condemns the increasing intimidation, violence and hate speech unfolding across the UK, targeting asylum seekers, refugees or migrants.

Racism threatens the safety of those who most need our help. Whether it’s a child who experiences racist bullying from a classmate, a young person who doesn’t feel safe asking for the support they need, a family seeking asylum, or a system that neglects them, racism has absolutely no place in our society. Furthermore, these racist events not only affect asylum seekers, refugees or migrants but stir up hatred and racism more broadly, seriously impacting people who are perceived to be from these backgrounds.

Please take care reading the following news reports. They are difficult to read, but we thought it was important to highlight some of the deplorable racism that communities are facing right now. Communities have been shocked as racist graffiti has shown up in children’s play areas,  and vandalism has appeared on people’s homes. There has recently been a racially motivated sexual attack on a young Sikh woman, and myriad of attacks on or at local Mosques. This has left communities understandably fearful and feeling displaced.

Inequalities are deeply embedded in our society and this impacts how we treat those who need our help the most - a report published earlier this year highlights how racial bias can influence decision-making and outcomes for children. It explores the experiences of children from Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage backgrounds who were seriously harmed or died between January 2022 and March 2024, shining a necessary spotlight on a deeply concerning issue: the silence around race and racism in child safeguarding practice.

At NCB, we are refusing to stay silent. We are on our own journey to becoming to a fully anti-racist organisation, and while we know we have further improvements we can make, one of our commitments is to not be neutral or silent when we see acts of racism. 

We are disappointed by the failure of our own leaders to stand up to racism consistently. Although we are starting to see more helpful interventions calling out some forms of racism, overall in recent months neither the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition have shown the leadership we would have expected in challenging racist and hateful rhetoric. 

As if this weren’t enough, we are frustrated at the way the racist events have been covered in the press. Media coverage strongly influences public narrative, shaping the policy environment and leading to real-life consequences for the people impacted. There has been a deeply disappointing lack of coverage of racist hate incidents right across the media, but more specifically, active encouragement of flag-waving and anti-immigration rhetoric and an assumption that reducing immigration is an incontestable policy objective, adding to the already dangerous environment for children and young people. 

NCB is taking its own measures to protest against this racist climate.  

We express our heartfelt sorrow to everyone who has been affected by racism. Solutions to society’s problems cannot be reached by ignoring evidence, misplacing blame, by hatred or by division, which have deeply harmful consequences for the lives of children, young people and adults

First and foremost, we have made our NCB X (Twitter) account dormant pending a full review of our social media. This is a reaction in part the virtual appearance by Elon Musk (who owns X) at the recent demonstration organised in London by Tommy Robinson. It is also a reaction to much longer-term patterns at X that has made it clear the platform no longer shares our values or is an effective and neutral place to share our work.  We understand the need to continue to fight misinformation and engage in the discussion (as per our recent statement on misinformation) and so rather than leaving completely at this stage we will be taking some time to consider our overall approach in balancing these factors.

Secondly, we will be evolving some of our media engagement. In some contexts we may not provide a comment or appear on a broadcast if we feel that we risk appearing complicit in the editorial policies outlined above.

Thirdly, we continue our advocacy work, for example ending child poverty, including scrapping the ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ policy. This policy affects over 3.2m people whose families are subject to immigration control and leaves them without the dignity and right to a safety net of state benefits.  NCB continues to stand strong for children, young people and families, and for their safety and right to be able to live unafraid and to flourish, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, background, or place of birth.

We are continually adding and updating our ways of working to ensure we have a robust anti-racist and intersectional lens on our work. For example, we are now using Equity Impact Assessment to ensure all groups of people under the Equality Act are represented and considered in our work. All our activities and partnerships align with our core values of better together, taking care, always learning, being brave, and forever young – but we know we’re not perfect. We’re on a journey to becoming a fully anti-racist organisation and have committed to a multi-year, internal and external-facing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan to make us fully fit to serve all children, young people and families in the UK.

We express our heartfelt sorrow to everyone who has been affected by racism. Solutions to society’s problems cannot be reached by ignoring evidence, misplacing blame, by hatred or by division, which have deeply harmful consequences for the lives of children, young people and adults 

We are publishing this statement but not promoting it on our wider channels – we are interested in setting out where we stand for those we work with closely, not in performative posturing or taking attention away from other organisations who are actively and authentically campaigning in this space. 

We all have a responsibility to come together and step up to stop racism now. 

If you’ve been affected by the events, or want to find out more, you can find further resources, information and support here: