No stranger to making robust interventions in the UK’s race-relations conversation, Lord Sewell – a man I have a great deal of respect for – has suggested the the 2010 Equality Act has become a “monster”.
In a new report authored by educationalist Dr Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert and specialist employment and equality barrister Dr Anna Loutfi, Lord Sewell said in his foreword that that the 2010 Equality Act – introduced under New Labour – was “demonstrably the product of a sustained campaign by internationalist lawyers seeking to revolutionise traditional British understandings of equality, freedom, and discrimination”.
Going further, the former chair of the UK Government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) declared that the “Act’s core features - protected characteristics, the Public Sector Equality Duty, and the requirement for positive action - have together created a system of justified discrimination”.
I must confess, as a twenty-year-old undergraduate student, I supported the passage of the Equality Act under former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
I believed that it would bolster equality of opportunity in modern Britain, tackling forms of racial and religious discrimination – whether it was in the labour market, the private rented housing sector, or the delivery of public services.
I felt it would act as a protective shield, reducing discrimination against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. As a young man of Bangladeshi Muslim heritage, it strengthened my personal feeling that Labour was my natural party. This was all about making modern Britain a fairer, more just society.
However, my current view of the Equality Act – as an experienced 36-year-old researcher in the social-cohesion space – is very different. It has been weaponised to usher in an era of ‘positive discrimination’ – the most incredible oxymoron imaginable.
In the period of BLM-mania which saw the aggressive importation of American ‘progressive’ race-radicalism, industries across British life placed racial-minority identity at the heart of their diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) policies – often referring to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and the fact that race is listed as a protected characteristic in the 2010 Equality Act.
Rakib Ehsan believes the Equality Act has been weaponised to usher in an era of ‘positive discrimination’
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However, this has led to some of our much-treasured public institutions falling foul when it comes to the basics of equality and justice. One example was an inquiry finding that initiatives to increase the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities in the Royal Air Force (RAF) led to unlawful positive discrimination.
There are also growing legitimate concerns over two-tier justice in modern Britain – which is anything but a far-right conspiracy theory. The police’s management of the stabbing of Henry Nowak – who was murdered by Vickrum Digwa – appears to tell a story of how destructive ‘new anti-racism’ can be.
Lord Sewell also makes the astute observation that both class and geography are missing from the list of protected characteristics enshrined in the 2010 Equality Act – even though we remain a land of significant class-based barriers and astonishing forms of regional inequality.
In this sense, the very content of existing equalities legislation is wholly inadequate in terms of tackling forms of disadvantage rooted in class and region. It is also worth noting that the obsession of race means the disability has become the forgotten protected characteristic – something which affects people across races, ethnicities, and faiths.
The 2010 Equality Act, in its current form, is simply not fit for purpose. Most ethnic-minority people in the UK would agree, as they are ultimately focused on fairness – not favours. The pendulum has swung so far in the other direction, racial and religious minorities increasingly appear to be the beneficiaries of preferential treatment – while white males are instinctively treated as being hyperprivileged (even though some are from working-class families which are struggling in left-behind parts of north-east England).
Some, quite understandably, want the 2010 Equality Act to be repealed in its entirety. This is one option, but perhaps it can be replaced with a new ‘Equality of Opportunity Act’ which truly understands the key barriers to social mobility – engaging more with social class, geographical inequalities, and physical/mental disabilities. Part of this should also officially recognise the importance of family stability in the shaping of life chances for young people.
One thing is for certain – a continuation of the status quo is not acceptable when it comes to equality policy in the UK.