[JURIST] Lord Ousley, former head of Britain's Commission for Racial Equality [commission website] and author of a well-known 2001 report documenting race riots in Bradford [PDF], suggested Monday that racial segregation in the UK was a serious problem and could be getting worse [BBC Radio 4 recorded audio]. Ousley urged current CRE chairman Trevor Phillips [CRE profile] to help develop preventative measures. On Thursday, Phillips intends to tell the Manchester Council for Community Relations [official website] that US-style ghettos similar to those in New Orleans, brought to the forefront by Hurricane Katrina, could evolve in the UK. UK Minister for Constitutional Affairs Harriet Harman [official website] has agreed that some of Britain's black and poor communities resemble those in the US, highlighting how, just like in the US, many Londoners who are poor and black are not registering to vote. Phillips, who is on record as saying that the government has failed in its integration efforts, has already called for predominantey white schools to increase their intake of minority students. The Guardian has local coverage.