Angela Rayner, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, commenting on Theresa May’s public service audit, said: “First of all, this is only a partial review, because there is no similar examination of barriers to equality within the private sector. That is a huge gap. 

"Secondly, this Government has been told time and again by repeated reports from the United Nations to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, exactly where the problems are. We don’t need an audit, we need action to stamp out racial discrimination across the board. 

"This is political posturing and positioning by Theresa May, we don’t need any more analysis - we need action.

"The tragedy is that the Government lacks the political will to tackle the issues of poverty, class, race and disadvantage which stop people in Britain from getting on in life and fulfilling all of their potential.

"This Conservative Government offers no real action to tackle the entrenched inequality suffered by people from the black, asian and ethnic minority communities and those from poorer socio-economic backgrounds in education, health, housing and the justice system. ”