Are we afraid to talk about race and diversity?

So says Trevor Phillips, the often outspoken former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in a TV programme he is presenting on Channel 4 tonight, Things We Won't Say About Race (That Are True).

Phillips says: "The dividing lines of race, religion and culture are probably the most dangerous flashpoints in Britain today but they're also the ones we find hardest to talk about in public. This film points to the ways in which we can say what's on our minds without being accused of being bigots."

For the 75-minute film, Phillips has interviewed former Prime Minister Tony Blair and also to Nigel Farage of UKIP, to discuss whether hostility to immigrants and ethnic groups has increased because of an unwillingness to discuss issues of race and diversity.

David Glover, of Channel 4, says that the film contains some "uncomfortable facts about race". He adds: "Trevor Phillips now strongly believes that it's important to get them out there so ultimately we can understand and tackle them. Trevor is arguably the best qualified person in the country to examine these issues."

That last point is something that Ratna Lachman, the chair of JUST West Yorkshire, which promotes racial justice, civil liberties and human rights, would take issue with.

Ratna says: "Trevor Phillips has always been someone who has had an eye to grabbing headlines and he proves himself true to form in this Chanel 4 documentary. JUST would challenge the view that Phillips is ‘the best qualified person’ to tackle the issue of Race in Britain today, as the consensus within the sector is that the progress towards race equality was stalled during his tenure as the Chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission – a role that he assumed as a ministerial appointment under Tony Blair’s premiership."

There's a suggestion in tonight's programme that attempts to encourage a multicultural Britain led directly to the rise of UKIP. Ratna says: "Trevor Phillips appears to have forgotten that multiculturalism is about respecting diversity and creating spaces where different communities can celebrate and respect each other’s cultures and traditions.

"It is a two-way street that requires the engagement of both White and BME [Black and minority ethnic] communities, and unfortunately Phillips' approach of blaming ethnic minorities for the failure of multiculturalism is likely to create division rather than unity between communities.

"Instead of blaming BME people for the rise of UKIP, it would have been more productive for Phillips to interrogate Farage's role in stoking up a climate of xenophobia with his comments about immigrants. The UKIP leader’s failure to address the racist statements made by members within his Party has caused deep hurt to ethnic minorities.

"His most recent reference to Muslims as the ‘fifth column’ was deeply Islamaphobic and UKIP’s plans to scrap anti-discrimination laws will deny vulnerable people basic legal protections. It is a pity that Phillips chooses to ignore UKIP’s retrogressive stance on race and immigration rather than blame Black and minority ethnic communities for the rise of UKIP.

"In a week that statistics have emerged about the discrimination experienced by ethnic minorities in the labour market; the high stop and search figures; poor criminal justice outcomes, and BME under-representation in politics and key public institutions, Phillips could have undertaken an objective analysis of the state of race in Britain today rather than being a ‘racism-denier’ dangling the post-racial red herring to television viewers."