A major new report from the Free Speech Union has raised serious concerns about the direction of British policing, arguing that a growing focus on race-based outcomes has weakened the principle of equal treatment under the law and contributed to a wider crisis of public confidence.
The report, Fear and Favour: Policing at a National Emergency, has been written by David Rose, the Free Speech Union’s Director of Policy and Research, and features a foreword by former Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Rick Prior.
It examines the evolution of policing policy since the publication of the Macpherson Report in 1999 and argues that reforms intended to combat racism have, over time, produced unintended consequences.
At the centre of the report is the tragic case of 18-year-old Southampton student Henry Nowak, who was fatally stabbed in December 2025. The report notes that the killer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely claimed that Mr Nowak had racially abused him. Judge William Mousley KC later concluded that no racist remarks had been made and that the false allegation had influenced officers’ initial response at the scene.
Rather than criticising the individual officers involved, the report argues that the case illustrates broader cultural and institutional changes within policing. It contends that allegations of racism have come to carry such weight within the system that officers can feel under pressure to prioritise them before fully assessing the available evidence.
One of the report’s central criticisms concerns the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s 2025 Police Anti-Racism Commitment. The document defines “racial equity” as achieving equality of policing outcomes between ethnic groups and explicitly states that this does not mean treating everyone the same or being “colour blind”. The Free Speech Union argues that this represents a significant departure from the traditional principle that all citizens should be treated equally before the law.
The report also highlights criticism from Professor Peter Neyroud, a former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police and former head of the National Policing Improvement Agency. Neyroud describes part of the Anti-Racism Commitment as one of the most poorly drafted policy statements he has seen and questions whether its rejection of equal treatment is compatible with the police oath to act “without fear or favour”.
Another major focus is the legacy of the Macpherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. While acknowledging the failures identified by Sir William Macpherson, the Free Speech Union argues that subsequent interpretations of “institutional racism” and the requirement to record incidents based on perceptions of racism have expanded far beyond their original purpose. The report suggests these policies have gradually shifted decision-making away from evidence-based judgement and towards perception-based assessments.
The authors are particularly critical of the influence of American race politics on British policing following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. According to the report, concepts associated with Critical Race Theory became increasingly embedded within police training, diversity programmes and operational guidance, despite Britain’s different historical and social context.
Among the examples cited is the Metropolitan Police’s adoption of recommendations contained within a report called 30 Patterns of Harm, which characterised concepts such as neutrality, objectivity and evidence as being linked to “whiteness”. The Free Speech Union argues that such thinking risks undermining the impartiality that is central to policing by consent.
The report also revisits concerns first raised by the Free Speech Union during consultations on the Police Race Action Plan in 2022. The organisation warned at the time that mandatory anti-racism initiatives could discourage open debate, create fear among officers and encourage an activist rather than impartial approach to policing. The report argues that subsequent events, including successful legal challenges brought by senior police representatives Rick Prior and Richard Cooke after disciplinary action over comments on race, have vindicated those concerns.
In his foreword, Mr Prior describes what he sees as a growing reluctance among officers to engage proactively with certain communities for fear of accusations of racism and lengthy professional misconduct investigations. He argues that confidence among rank-and-file officers has been damaged and calls for a return to politically neutral policing grounded in equal treatment under the law.
The report concludes by urging police leaders to abandon what it describes as an activist approach to anti-racism and instead adopt a simpler principle: that police officers should not discriminate against anyone, regardless of race, while continuing to uphold impartiality, free expression and equality before the law.
Whether one agrees with all of its conclusions or not, the report is likely to add fuel to an increasingly intense national debate about policing, race, public confidence and the future of policing by consent in Britain.
The full report, Fear and Favour: Policing at a National Emergency, has been published by the Free Speech Union and is available on its website here.
