Doreen Lawrence Given Seat in House of Lords
Martyn Brown, Express (London), August 1, 2013
Doreen Lawrence is to be given a seat in the House of Lords, 20 years after the murder of her son Stephen in a racist attack.
She will be made a baroness in a list of peerages expected to be published today and it is understood that she will sit on the Labour benches as a working peer.
Mrs Lawrence, 60, has campaigned tirelessly for justice for her 18-year-old son, who was stabbed to death after being set upon by a gang of white youths at a bus stop in south London in 1993.
She founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to support young people from ethnic minority backgrounds to pursue their ambitions, and has been chosen to sit on Home Office and police panels.
It is understood that she was persuaded to accept a peerage by Labour’s shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan.
Last night a Labour source said: “The strength and courage she has shown in her fight for justice for her son has had a profound impact on attitudes to racism and policing.
“Her campaigning has changed our country for the better. Ed Miliband believes voices like hers should always be heard in Parliament.”
Doreen Lawrence
