Generally, only include if it is relevant to the story. Where relevant, as a rule, use the descriptions people use of themselves.
Do not confuse these terms with each other. If in doubt, refer to the example of a Black (race) Scot (ethnicity), who is a British citizen with a UK passport (nationality). Note that many style guides, ours included, now capitalise Black. See AP's definition below:
Guidance from The Associated Press on capitalising Black:
"AP’s style is now to capitalise Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. The lowercase black is a color, not a person. AP style will continue to lowercase the term white in racial, ethnic and cultural senses. (...) We found, at this time, less support for capitalizing white. White people generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color. (...) Capitalising the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs."
The term BAME is best avoided unless within direct quotes or when it is a stated parameter of a report or study. There is a low level of understanding of the term among many audiences and it should be defined in the accompanying text.
:: See the UK Broadcasters' commitment to avoid using the "catch-all" phrase (link)
If under extreme duress, it’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) at first mention, BAME at second reference and in headlines.
It can include anyone who identifies as belonging to an ethnicity other than white British, including:
Black (Black African or Black Caribbean) or Black British people
Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other South Asian or Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese or other East Asian or South East Asian) or Asian British people
Arab (or North African) or Arab British people
people of mixed race or mixed heritage
Gypsies, Romany Gypsies or Irish Travellers
And it is usually better to use this more specific terminology where possible. If an umbrella term is necessary, however, (people belonging to) ethnic minorities is preferred. Avoid "non-whites".
Immigrant is often wrongly used to describe someone born in the UK. Instead of “she is from an immigrant family”, consider “her family settled in the UK from India”, for example.
people of colour, which is used in the US, obviously excludes entirely white ethnic minorities but, even when this is the intention, it is also best avoided in copy and scripts unless within direct quotes or when it is a stated parameter of a report or study. Avoid “brown”, unless in the words of a contributor.
Many Hispanic and/or Latino Americans identify as people of colour but others, who prefer to emphasise their European heritage, do not.
And the same is true of East Asian and South East Asian Americans.
Similarly, the more specific Black Americans, where relevant, is preferred to people of colour.
Caribbean Americans and Africans living in the US do not generally identify as African American, even if they are Black.
And African American is, therefore, best avoided other than to differentiate between these groups, within direct quotes or when it is a stated parameter of a report or study.
If referring to specific individuals, where possible and appropriate reflect how they self-identify.
The Duchess of Sussex and Oona King identify as mixed race, for example.
A UK national is British citizen. But the country is technically not Britain, as that excludes Northern Ireland. The British Isles are a geographical region, containing among others Britain and the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland (a country of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (an independent nation and a member-state of the EU).
Brits/Britons: Avoid using Brit. Use Briton or British national(s). But are you referring to British citizens or people living in the UK? These are not synonymous.
Scotland and Wales: They are countries, and not regions, of the UK with their own devolved parliaments and governments.
Northern Ireland: see separate section below
Northern Ireland can be referred to as a country or a region, but avoid referring to it as a province or as Ulster, unless when it is in the name of an organisation, such as a political party or sports team. People from Northern Ireland may refer to themselves as Northern Irish, Irish or British; we should respect that choice where known and relevant, but otherwise refer to people as Northern Irish.
Derry or Londonderry? Generally, although not always, nationalists favour using the name Derry, and unionists Londonderry. Legally, the city and county are called Londonderry, while the local government district containing the city is called Derry and Strabane. The city should be given the full name at first reference, but Derry can be used later. Don’t change in names of organisations, publications etc
ie the local authorities in Londonderry said...Scotland has its own parliament, the Scottish Parliament. Holyrood is acceptable at second reference and in short headlines.
Members are known as MSPs (members of the Scottish Parliament)
Wales has its own parliament, the Senedd. It is wrong to refer to it with the old term "assembly".
Members are known as MS (members of the Senedd).
Northern Ireland has an assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly. Stormont is acceptable at second reference and short headlines.
Members are known as AMs (assembly members).
London has an assembly, the London Assembly, which holds the Mayor to account.
It’s Mohammad bin Salman, not Mohammad Bin Salman.
It’s al Qaeda, al Muhajiroun, Bashar al Assad, but the broadcaster is Al Jazeera.
Chinese, Cambodian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese names are written with the family name first:
ie Chinese President Xi Jinping has welcomed the new trade deal with JapanSouth Korean first names are hyphenated with the second word lowercase.
North Korean names are usually three words, separate and capped up.
Argentine, not Argentinian
Gypsy: The Romani are widely known among English-speaking people by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies), which is considered by some Roma people to be pejorative due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity. It’s also inaccurate as it derives from the word Egyptian, where Romani people were incorrectly considered to originate from in the past. Use Roma or Romani People instead, not to be confused with Irish Travellers. Romani peoples’ language is known as Romany, not to be confused with Romanian.
Uluru, not Ayers Rock