Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – Lords Amendment 37
Ping Pong stage, April 16, 2013
On March 4, the House of Lords voted by a majority of 103 for a cross-party amendment to make caste a protected characteristic under equality law (via a New Clause in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill). This is a conscience matter and I hope all LibDem MPs will support the Lords’ New Clause, as part of our commitment to the principles of liberalism.
Peers were persuaded by a report commissioned by the Government during the passage of the Equality Act 2010. It confirms that caste discrimination is a genuine problem in Britain and recommended a legislative response. The report, by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), estimates there are at least 50,000 (and perhaps in excess of 200,000) people living in Britain who are classified as “low caste”. It found evidence of harassment, social exclusion and employment discrimination “work (bullying, recruitment, promotion, task allocation); … · provision of services; and … education (pupil on pupil bullying)”. Such treatment would be brought within the scope of the Equality Act by the amendment opposed by the Government.
The Tories claim the change would be “needless red tape and additional, unnecessary cost burdens for businesses”, but the work needed would be insignificant, as caste would not be a new ground, simply a subset of race. Nor does any burden justify denying rights to victims of such debasing discrimination.
The Tories merely propose an informal conciliation service, further burdening the oppressed by requiring them to confront their oppressors without any genuine remedy. This is completely inappropriate given the, by definition, enormous disparity of power between the higher and lower castes. Despite the Equality and Human Rights Commission already having endorsed legislation, the Government wishes to delay this legislation until they consider the issue yet again -effectively kicking the issue into the long grass.
A couple in Leicester who were discriminated against and harassed by their employers because they were of different castes and wished to marry, spent their life savings on a discrimination case in a desperate attempt to create a legal precedent to benefit victims of caste discrimination. This case dragged out over two years and put huge financial and psychological pressure on the couple. Tragically, the case was aborted under circumstances which were not their fault. The amendment would render such cases unnecessary.
The Christian Institute and National Secular Society have joined forces to support this amendment and the latter has provided the Government with a legal opinion which concludes that the UK’s failure to outlaw caste discrimination is a violation of Article 2(1) and 6 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. As I wrote in my 22 February blog, both The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the UN Universal Periodic Review of the UK say that the victims of caste discrimination have the right to legal redress.
I therefore invite LibDem members to express their desire to their MP that they vote in favour of Lords amendment 37 at the Ping Pong stage on April 16.
* Eric Lubbock, Lord Avebury, is a working peer, and Vice-Chair, Parliamentary Human Rights Group. He blogs here.
6 Comments
Whilst I can see the need for this, I do wonder whether we are approaching this in the wrong way.
The problem with caste specifically, I suggest is more to do with some communities importing belief systems that are not compatible with British society and so not fully embracing what it means to be a British citizen/resident and hence perhaps a punishment option should be the removal of citizenship and/or right to reside?
Having read the report, I agree that this is an issue of discrimination. Well done to those in the House of Lords working on this.
Roland – This approach would be difficult as it would have to apply to those who discriminate on race, gender or sexual orientation. But its an interesting idea.
Roland
You’re suggesting that if a foreign-born person (be they a Citizen or merely resident) engages in caste-based discrimination they should be deprived of their citizenship and/or deported, not because caste-based discrimination is Bad™ but because it’s not a ‘British’ kind of discrimination, such as gender-, race- or sexuality-based discrimination? Presumably you’re not suggesting deporting them, etc. if they engage in those latter types of discrimination, right?
What about British-born children of foreign migrants? Would they be deprived of their British citizenship and/or deported because of their parents nationality and/or race?
Should the white, working-class lout down the pub engaging in caste-discrimination be likewise stripped of citizenship or deported too? If not, doesn’t that make some Citizens ‘more equal than others’? Wouldn’t we be using racial discrimination to tackle caste discrimination?
It’s an interesting idea certainly but I believe it completely unworkable and probably illegal anyway. I think adding caste-discrimination to the list and dealing with it in the same way as other forms of discrimination is the correct approach.
This is being pushed by people with different agendas. For a group to be able to discriminate against another group it needs to have a huge economic and political clout. The Hindu community does not have either. No one is stopped from going to Hindu temples. Giving made up examples of supposed nastiness by individuals does not justify legislating. This caste legislation will make a mockery of our justice system and it will impact every institution in this country and create a whole new set of bureaucracy. The government set up a study to find out about caste discrimination and found out no real cases of any merit. This country has strong any discrimination laws to tackle any issues. Some people need to shed their victim mentality!
Caste-based Discrimination is pernicious. Victims deserve the same level of legal protection given to victims of other forms of discrimination in the UK. The Government’s commissioned research says without a doubt that Caste Discrimination in the areas covered by the Equality Act exists.
The examples we saw on Newsnight the other day are shocking. It’s unacceptable that all UK citizens are not treated the same when it comes to the Equality Act 2010. Section 9(5)a of the Equality Act 2010 states: “(5) A Minister of the Crown may by Order amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race” if there is evidence of Caste-based discrimination. During the passage of the Equality Bill, the three main parties indicated that if evidence of Caste Based Discrimination came to light, this Section could be brought into force.
The Government can accept the Amendment Clause on Caste and deal with what is clearly an issue of fairness and social injustice. The current legal gap in protection for victims of Caste-based discrimination in the UK goes against all the basic principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination law that this country values, cherishes and champions.
If you missed it the first time, you can view the report about caste discrimination in the UK in BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday 15 April. You can watch this about 30 minutes into the link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/bigscreen/tv/episode/b01s0r58/Newsnight_15_04_2013
You will be able to view the apinful effects this discrimination has had on its victims, and how they have suffered in silence over the years.