The chief executive of a Bradford charity has backed comments from a Labour leadership candidate that cuts in the public sector could set “race relations back a generation”.

Mohammed Ali, founder and chief executive of QED-UK, echoed comments made by Labour leadership candidate Diane Abbott MP that a large proportion of black and ethnic minorities, particularly women, are predominantly employed in the public sector and are vulnerable to cuts.

Mr Ali, who set up the charity in 1990 with a mission to improve opportunities and ethnic minorities and narrow the employment gap with the general population, said: “Local authorities and other public bodies, in areas with high concentration of ethnic minorities, are vulnerable to cuts as there are a high proportion of the people in these areas claiming unemployment benefits and these people are vulnerable to long-term unemployment.

“Public sector cuts will be a massive set-back to economic and social integration of communities.

“The public and private sectors are very good sources of jobs for black and ethnic minority groups.

“Cuts will also affect the voluntary sector which is often funded by the public sector, but our good work will not be undone.

“We will help anyone who is made redundant in finding employment.”

The charity has said in Bradford the Bangladeshi and Pakistani community made up almost 20 per cent of the population, but represented almost half of the economically inactive population.

He said: “I think it will become more difficult for us to get people into jobs.

“These things will have a knock-on impact on everybody.”

Earlier this week Mrs Abbott said ethnic and gender monitoring should be carried out when public bodies axe jobs to prevent planned spending cuts having a disproportionate impact on minority communities. She warned a “last in, first out” approach to redundancies would hit black and female workers particularly hard and could set back race relations by a generation, risking “instability” in society.