By Waheed Alli
The Equality Bill that Harriet Harman is introducing to the Commons within the next few weeks will be a landmark piece of legislation. This is not because of any new rights it enshrines, or any old injustice that it overturns - though it will do both of those. It will be a landmark because it will finally unify all of the disparate laws that have accumulated over the last fifty years in the ongoing struggle for justice and equality.
We can never claim to have true equality until the protection we offer a gay man against homophobia is the same as the protection we offer a black man against racism; unless our anti-discrimination laws recognise a disabled woman or a gay Asian as being members of more than one minority; or until everyone in our society fulfils their duty to ensure equality for everyone else - from teachers stopping bullying in schools to doctors rejecting ageism and treating the elderly with respect.
In short, Equality is not something that can come from the top-down. It must spread between us all in our day to day lives.
And that is what this bill does. It takes the battle lines away from the big flashpoint issues, and moves them into the everyday. For me, the question is no longer, "Can a gay couple get married and adopt?", but "How does society treat that gay couple and their child?" The debate has moved from the registrar's office and into wider society. It's up to all of us to play our part.
That's why I'm calling on everyone - whether you are a lifetime Equality Campaigner, or simply someone who has an opinion on the law - to join the discussion at EqualityBill.com. The website is a personal initiative, and I have set it up as a way of getting direct access to the views of those that the law will affect. It is way for help me to drive the legislative process.
The House of Lords has gained something of a reputation for being a place where equality legislation goes to die: whether it was the equalisation of the age of consent being stopped by Baroness Young in 1998, or the criminalisation of incitement to homophobic hatred being severely weakened by Lord Waddington in 2008. But I know from working in the House that it can also be a place where legislation goes to thrive.
My colleagues are dedicated and conscientious, and are committed to carefully scrutinising every line of every bill - and when the Equality Bill reaches the Lords later this year, I intend to be a key part of that scrutiny, using your feedback as my guide.
The details of our lives should dictate the details of the law - not the other way around.
That's why I'm urging you to go now to EqualityBill.com; to sign up, lobby your MP, share your experiences, and become a part of the debate.
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I cannot remember a time of greater intolerance, mistrust and fear.
Sure, some people need a helping hand, but the result of Labour's social engineering has been - not the creation of equality - but a hierarchy of ideologies. This has produced many divisions and bad feeling in society - some would say deliberately to divide and rule us.
What do you think about "the equalisation of the age of consent" producing legalised pederasty?
As for the "criminalisation of incitement to homophobic hatred being severely weakened by Lord Waddington in 2008".
I take it you mean his brief amendment ensuring free speech.
It would be helpful for you to be more honest in your reporting.
- whilst we are still a monarchy
- until a democratic government introduces things like a true bill of rights
- etc
* civil servants and Ministers will sex up allegations to force a police investigation into the affairs of both male and female opposition MPs?
* when the police trawl the emails of MPS they will search for correspondence with both male and female human rights campaigners and both white and non-white ones?
Will it redress the pay cuts that have resulted from earlier equal pay legislation?
Will it equalise the rights of all ritual faiths under the law together with those of no-faith?
Will it ensure that women are not disadvantaged and repressed by misogynist religions?
I doubt it.
More New Labour grandstanding with very little real Labour content.
Does anybody know?
Yes, it will, under the mendacious name of "equality", make it legal to treat white males as second class citizens. Still, I'm sure they've had it their own way for far too long, so let them suffer.
I've very strongly against appointing anyone to any post who is not the most competent person for the job - it does no-one (least of all the appointee) any favours at all.
Conversely, I'm very strongly in favour of monitoring, discovering and addressing barriers, targeted advertising, and specific coaching and training both internal and external to ensure that members of minorities can, in fact, be appointed or promoted on merit. This takes time, patience, willingness and money ... and seems to be too complicated for nuLabour, who would rather achieve a quick-win appearance of equality than grind away at the long slow process of achieving in actuality.
My general view is employers need to take an honest view of competence, some of the more marginal communities need to get their own PR in gear so they're more acceptable, and costs of disabilities need to be factored out.
Again, I believe, Britain lacks confidence and communication skills, and has a too short-term view of finance. Unless this gets dealt with we can wind the clock forward 20 years and be no further down the road. Pathetic.
While there undoubtedly *are* commonalities between different strands of equality, there are also major differences, and it does all of us a disservice to pretend otherwise. Yup, I'm a member of a couple of "minorities" - I've been noticeably disabled for five years, and an out gay man for thirty years. My experience on becoming disabled was that it was striking how very little use my experience as a member of one minority was to my new existence as a member of another one!
I wait with interest to see what will be in the bill - but I very much hope that it isn't a "one-size-fits-all".
The words are you would add to the already burden on the welfare state of the country you worked in, or even add to the pensions of the said country equality for you.
But then I realised I quite like this comment.
Weird.