Chuka is appearing on a special edition of Question Time for first time voters, which will be broadcast this evening on BBC Three between 8.00pm and 9.00pm

Alongside Chuka, the panel will include Miquita Oliver, Marcus Bridgstocke, Kwasi Kwarteng and Anna Arrowsmith, and will be chaired by Dermot O’Leary.

Chuka will be appearing on ITV1’s Late Debate this evening at 11:35pm this evening, discussing London’s economy.

The programme follows Britain’s first ever televised leaders’ debate, which will be aired on the channel at 8:30pm.

Yesterday, Chuka appeared on Sky News, being questioned by Kay Burley on the economy – one of the key battlegrounds over which the election will be fought.

This was only hours after the Prime Minister went to the Queen to dissolve Parliament and officially call the General Election, which will take place on Thursday May 6th.

Chuka is a signatory to this letter, along with former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and others, which appears in today’s Guardian newspaper:

Despite the government saving the financial sector from meltdown, City reaction to the PBR has been to promote scare stories of a so-called mass exodus of “talent”, questionable accusations from leading accountancy firms of a huge black hole in the public finances and, worst of all, plans to engage in tax avoidance in relation to the new windfall levy on bonuses (City tells Darling: you’re driving us out of Britain, 10 December).

Let’s not forget that it was the bankers who wrecked the economy in the first place and that we face a budget deficit that they significantly helped create – not least in part by the banks bailout. Let’s not forget too that despite the bailout, before the PBR, banks planned bumper bonuses forecast to rise 50% to £6bn. It’s in this context we feel the government deserves support in imposing the windfall levy on bonuses. We further welcome government efforts in advocating a financial transactions tax. These measures are important in making the financial sector as a whole more socially responsible.

We’d also urge the government to take radical steps in diversifying the economy and end the country’s overreliance on financial services for jobs, growth and tax revenue. Further, we don’t believe that public sector workers should be forced to pay for the mistakes of bankers through a real-terms pay cut. On the wider issue of excessive pay – while a bonuses windfall tax is good for the short-term, for the long-term we’d call on the government to establish a high pay commission.

Chuka appeared on BBC Radio 4’s topical panel discussion show Any Questions? on Friday November 13th.

He joined writer A.N. Wilson, Director of the Institute of Ideas Claire Fox and Editor of ConservativeHome Tim Montgomerie.

Listen again to the programme here.

I have read with interest about Alan Milburn MP’s social mobility report published this week (there is a video of Alan talking about his report at the bottom of this post).  For me, tackling outstanding inequalities and the lack of social mobility is a priority. Reading the reports and comment on this topic this week reminded me of an article I wrote for the Financial Times in August 2006, which I have reproduced below, for those who would like to revisit it:

The City has dramatically changed over the past two decades. The nostalgic image of the bowler-hatted gentleman sauntering to work is long gone. In its place reigns the slick-suited, BlackBerry-carrying guy or girl shouting across a crowded dealing room. However, there is one constant – the City is still overwhelmingly white.

Mention ethnic diversity in a City conference room and the ensuing awkward silence conveys a clear message: everyone knows it is an issue but no one wants to do anything about it. Some even deny it is an issue at all, with one senior partner of a City law firm reportedly claiming not to know the meaning of the term “diversity”.

Those of us who have worked in the City see few faces of colour in the glass palaces that populate the square mile, particularly in front office and senior roles. The facts are stark. Just 2.5 per cent of FTSE 100 board members are from ethnic minorities, according to Cranfield School of Management, and there is one non-white chief executive, Arun Sarin at Vodafone (an import from the US). Fewer than 3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively of the partners of most prestigious City law and accountancy firms are drawn from a non-white background, according to Legal Week and Accountancy Age. The investment banks cleverly give percentages based on global headcount rather than a City office breakdown – I wonder why? When one considers that almost one in three Londoners is from a non-white background, the figures are quite shocking.

“But there is a dearth of suitable candidates,” is the cry of City personnel departments. This argument does not hold up in 2006. Record numbers of ethnic minority students are entering higher education and they are more likely to go to university than their white counterparts. More of them are entering the professions than ever before, so why do disparities remain in the City? A recruitment agency, Talent! Recruitment, which specialises in hiring diverse workforces, was recently asked by a City accountancy outfit to find candidates for certain roles. Talent found diverse candidates with excellent degrees and from the “preferred” universities. The candidates were rejected on the grounds that they lacked “polish”. Herein lies the problem: culture and class.

It seems that senior managers are doomed to recruit in their own image. Above and beyond the required qualifications and skills, they look to recruit candidates they could have “a drink and a laugh” with and with whom they would feel comfortable working under severe pressure. Many of these mostly white, upper-middle class, middle-aged men have little experience of forging close relationships with people from another class, let alone from an ethnic minority.

The wine bar and the pub are the after-work venues of choice which, for example, excludes whole swaths of Muslim employees. Golf is often the corporate entertainment activity of choice – how many black people, other than wealthy footballers and Tiger Woods, does one see on a golf course?

Class determines access to the networks and mentors that provide careers advice and arrange work experience, which are important factors in helping young people choose their careers. More important, it determines which university you attend. African and Caribbean children who are largely drawn from the lower socioeconomic classes will gravitate towards universities close to their family home, primarily for financial reasons, rather than to the “preferred” universities. This means that City employers, who tend to focus resources on recruiting from the Russell Group of top universities, fail to reach these candidates.

So what is to be done? City recruiters who are serious about addressing ethnic diversity in the workplace must widen the pool of universities they focus on and they need to work with London’s ethnic minorities to improve access to work-experience programmes for youngsters. However, all of this will come to nothing if culture and class continue to be obstacles.

Those who buy the City’s services should use their purchasing power to force change. Barclays recently demanded diversity statistics from every City law firm it uses. There is evidence that this practice, which has been used in the US for some time, is beginning to spread but it is not enough. Action is needed from one of the biggest procurers of City services: the government.

If we are serious about building greater equality in Britain, we must tackle the rampant inequality in the City. In today’s world, money and power are inextricably linked. If ethnic minorities fail to progress in the City, their power and influence will continue to be compromised. In purchasing City services such as pension fund management, the government should invite tenders only from City businesses that publish diversity figures – that would be a start.

The next step would be to consider rejecting tenders from City businesses with workforces that do not reflect the society the government serves. The law may need to change to allow this, but it would certainly concentrate minds.

Update: The Labour government’s Equality Bill, due to receive royal assent in 2010, will make it clear that public bodies will be able to use procurement to drive equality. It will enable Ministers to set out how public bodies should go about doing so.  With an annual expenditure of around £175 billion every year on goods and services – about 13% of GDP – the public sector will soon be able to use its purchasing power to promote equality thanks to the Bill.

Chuka appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live this week, taking part in Front Bench on the Up All Night show, discussing the expenses revelations alongside other candidates including pop star David Van Day.

To listen, follow this link (opens Real Player)

Or alternatively, listen on iPlayer – Chuka’s contribution is at 2hr30 in.

Chuka was a guest on the BBC’s Daily Politics show last Friday, discussing the expenses revelations, the reform of Parliament and the future of politics.

To watch the programme on iPlayer, follow this link.

Earlier this week, referring to the continuing political crisis engulfing Westminster, Chuka said that “Labour’s next generation has a duty to make a contribution if it does not wish to inherit the public’s contempt”. In that vein Chuka appears in today’s Independent on Sunday, in which he argues in favour of reforming the electoral system, and the Sunday Times, in which he argues for party selection processes of candidates to be made more open and to involve the public. Click on the logos below to read what Chuka said.

Chuka was a guest on BBC One’s Politics Show on Sunday, discussing Boris Johnson’s cancellation of Rise Festival and promoting the UpRise campaign to save the anti-racism event. To see Chuka’s appearance, follow this link (the Rise feature is at 48mins in)