It is almost impossible to think of a more important role in modern life than the one held by RACHEL DE SOUZA. Made a dame in 2014 for services to education last year she took up the post of Children’s commissioners. Only this morning - we are recording this on Monday 8 August Dame Rachel was denouncing the Metropolitan police’s record on child protection after new data revealed that 650 children were strip-searched over a two-year period and the majority were found to be innocent of the suspicions against them. Her report also called out ethnic disproportionality after the data showed that of children aged 10 to 17 who were strip-searched between 2018 and 2020, almost three out of five (58%) were black, as described by the officer.

61 - Rachel de Souza