The educationalist Tony Sewell has never been afraid to challenge the liberal Left. He has helped thousands of black children from poor backgrounds to get into university, but he has done so through a focus on individual aspiration rather than by viewing everything through the narrow prism of identity politics.

Mr Sewell was therefore a superb choice by the Government to chair the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. The commission’s report, released last year, was an important piece of research that shredded the narrative pushed by the likes of Black Lives Matter that the UK is an “institutionally racist” country and highlighted the huge progress that has been made in recent years.

The subsequent backlash, however, revealed the extent to which ideology still dominates these discussions. The commission was accused of producing a “whitewash”, even though its report did not deny the continued problem of racism in the UK. Left-wing groups mobilised to attack Mr Sewell personally. Shamefully, the University of Nottingham even withdrew its offer of an honorary degree.

The Government is now finally acting on the commission’s recommendations and has set out a series of actions that it will take. These range from confirmation that departments will no longer use the unhelpful term “Bame” and more scrutiny of stop and search, to a review of the school history curriculum, presumably so it is not misused to promote a one-sided narrative of victimhood and oppression. Mr Sewell ought to feel vindicated. His critics may create a lot of noise in the public debate. But his honest examination of the evidence will result in practical changes for the better.