The Scarman report was commissioned by the UK government to inquire into the Brixton riots in April 1981. It identified “complex political, social and economic factors” that created a “disposition towards violent protest,” but did not explicitly condemn police racism and denied that “institutional racism” even existed. The report also identified failures in police community liaison, confidence and trust in the police, police training, and in the representation of ethnic minorities in the police force. The report was symbolically “accepted” by the home secretary, William Whitelaw, but it was largely ignored by the Thatcher government, which failed to adjust government policies to systematically address racial disadvantage as Scarman had proposed.