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Burnham signals support for bill to make ‘Black English’ and ‘Asian English’ census options

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Cite

correspondent, P. W. S. p. (2026, November 11). Burnham signals support for bill to make ‘Black English’ and ‘Asian English’ census options. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/11/andy-burnham-black-english-asian-english-census-bill-ethnicity

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The Guardian · collected 2026-11-11 · by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

Quick Summary

Andy Burnham has indicated his likely support for a bill proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde, which aims to allow individuals to identify as both black and English or Asian and English in census ethnicity options for England. The bill is supported by cross-party MPs including David Lammy and James Cleverly, as they respond to claims from Reform UK politicians like Suella Braverman that only white people can be considered ethnically English. Burnham emphasized the need to reject divisive politics and expressed his intent to support the bill, despite not having reviewed its details, in an effort to promote unity against racist ideologies.
Written by AI on 2026-11-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Andy Burnham, the Labour Party leader, has hinted that he will support a bill introduced by Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde to add "black English" and "Asian English" categories to the UK Census. The proposal aims to address what some perceive as racist attitudes towards people with black or Asian heritage who were born and raised in England but are not recognized as such in current census data. Burnham made his stance known during a debate in the Commons when challenged by Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. He stated that he would want to support the bill to confront "poisonous politics" seen in recent discussions, such as those initiated by Reform UK MP Suella Braverman, who argued that only white people can be English. The bill seeks to overhaul ethnicity questions on the census to better reflect and acknowledge diverse ethnic identities within England.

Written for “Andy Burnham Hints Support For Census Categories” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 145111: attributed speech only · logged 2026-11-11

Story

Andy Burnham Hints Support For Census Categories
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 69/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 3288 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Peter Walker Senior political correspondent
31 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Andy Burnham has said he is likely to support a bill tabled by a Liberal Democrat MP that would allow people to define themselves as both black and English for ethnicity options in the census for England.
The government’s flagship 10-year plan will emerge by mid-December, Andy Burnham has told MPs, having previously raised the possibility that it might be delayed until next year.
The government is aiming for “quite radical change” in the way young people are supported, Andy Burnham has said, indicating this could include tougher rules for benefits as well as notably more help with everything from finding work to mental health.
The consultation, led by the Department for Transport, will aim to establish national standards on issues including parking, ending the current patchwork of agreements between individual bike companies and councils.
The Palace of Westminster will be at risk of a Notre Dame-style fire or a similar catastrophic event if MPs do not tackle the issue of funding refurbishments, a parliamentary committee has said.
MPs and others working in parliament could be required to take a criminal record check before being given a security pass, and receive anti-harassment training under a pioneering scheme to root out violence against women.
Andy Burnham will ask countries affected by Britain’s role in slavery to help shape an expected formal apology, Downing Street has indicated, arguing that their input is indispensable in crafting a enduring message.
While Farage has said the party’s vetting procedures have improved greatly, footage in the programme included Alan Feeney, a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull, calling Asian homeowners “parasites”, making Islamophobic remarks, and stating that “no more than 1% of [the] British population can be non-white”.
A statement from Labour said coalitions or other deals with Greens would stop in all local authorities where they had refused to condemn the policy motion passed at their party conference last month, which also called for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel.
The decision, which will have been more financially and environmentally costly than if the prime minister had travelled to London, leaves him open to accusations of hypocrisy after Labour repeatedly criticised Rishi Sunak for his use of private planes and helicopters for domestic travel when he was the prime minister.
Also by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 31 articles by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent →

Topics

Asian Conservative England English Lib Dem

Subjects

English NORP · 6× England GPE · 5× Babarinde PERSON · 4× Asian NORP · 3× Burnham PERSON · 3× British NORP · 2× Conservative NORP · 2× Davey PERSON · 2× Lib Dem NORP · 2× Wales GPE · 2×

Narrative

“Can I say to him, I haven’t looked at the detail of the bill, but I stand here thinking that I would want to support that bill to directly take on the poisonous politics that we’ve seen from some in this house who are seeking to divide us.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
Andy Burnham has said he is likely to support a bill tabled by a Liberal Democrat MP that would allow people to define themselves as both black and English for ethnicity options in the census for England.

Claims (21 extracted, 0 hedged)

Andy Burnham has said he is likely to support a bill tabled by a Liberal Democrat MP that would allow people to define themselves as both black and English for ethnicity options in the census for England. asserted
people → say → England
The bill was drawn up by Josh Babarinde, the Lib Dem president, with backing from a cross-party mix of MPs including David Lammy, a former Labour deputy prime minister, and James Cleverly, the Conservative former foreign secretary. asserted
bill → draw → Lammy
The push is a riposte to Reform UK politicians such as Suella Braverman who have claimed that people from minority ethnic backgrounds cannot have English ethnic identity. asserted
people → claim → identity
Addressing Burnham at prime minister’s questions, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said some MPs had “shamefully” argued for what he called the racist idea that only white people can be English. asserted
people → address → what
Davey went on: “We must reject it, as the Conservative leader, to her great credit, has done. asserted
leader → go → credit
We should start with the census, with the only English option, when you are asked about your ethnicity, is White English.” asserted
you → start → ethnicity
Saying that Babarinde’s bill would create new options such as Black English and Asian English, Davey asked Burnham if he would support this. asserted
he → say → this
Burnham replied by saying he also praised Badenoch for rejecting the idea of an ethnic basis for Englishness, going on: “Because on some issues, we should rise above party politics. asserted
we → reply → politics
We should recognise when things are completely unacceptable, and join common cause against them. asserted
things → recognise → them
“Can I say to him, I haven’t looked at the detail of the bill, but I stand here thinking that I would want to support that bill to directly take on the poisonous politics that we’ve seen from some in this house who are seeking to divide us. asserted
who → say → us
“We must move on from a decade of division and drift in this country. asserted
We → move → country
We must bring people back together. asserted
We → bring → people
I am interested in working with anyone in this house who shares that aim.” asserted
who → work → aim
Babarinde’s bill is what is known as a 10-minute rule bill, which would not get any parliamentary time and thus have a chance of becoming law without the government giving it time in the Commons. asserted
government → know → Commons
In England, the ethnic group question on the census offers “English” only within the “White” category, although about 11% of UK-born population in England and Wales are from a minority ethnic background. asserted
% → offer → background
Asian, black, mixed and other respondents can describe themselves as British, for example “Asian or Asian British”, but have no option to describe themselves as English. asserted
respondents → describe → English
This stands in contrast to the census in Scotland and Wales, which offers options such as “Scottish Asian”, and “Black Welsh”. asserted
which → stand → Asian
Setting out the reasons for his bill to the Guardian earlier this week, Babarinde said the current definition meant 60% of England’s World Cup squad would not technically be classified as English on the census. asserted
% → set → census
“I’m a proud Englishman and Englishness is about more than the colour of your skin,” Babarinde said. asserted
Babarinde → ’m → skin
“Most people in this country already agree that you don’t have to be white to be English. asserted
you → agree → country
But our census hasn’t properly caught up.” asserted
census → catch → ?
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