Clause 35 - General
Equality Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Hywel Williams (Spokesperson (Disability; Health; Social Security; Work and Pensions); Caernarfon, Plaid Cymru)
I want to refer to the definition of race on page 21. As hon. Members and the Minister know, the concept of race has been problematic in the past. It is defined in the clause by reference to, among other things, “national origin”. That is not itself defined. National origin can also be problematic. Dr. Gwynfor Evans, a former Member of this House, said that anyone could be Welsh as long as they were prepared to take the consequences. National origin is what I say it is; it is a matter of self-definition. That might give some difficulties if one was alleging some wrong.
A friend of mine, who comes from Yorkshire, is married to a Welsh woman—and a Welsh speaker, at that—and has two sons, Owain and Rhodri. He occasionally asks me whether I have any idea of their national origin. I say Welsh, of course, because they are prepared to accept the consequences. There has been controversy about the matter. Some Members might recall the Brewer Spinks case in the early 1960s, when Brewer Spinks Ltd. tried to ban its employees from speaking Welsh. It led to a huge amount of controversy, to demonstrations and to a climbdown by Brewer Spinks before the law had anything to say.
In subsequent cases, people have alleged discrimination and all kinds of wrongs on the basis of national origin, which then defines race—people have been annoyed at being called Welsh, Taff or Taffy—and such cases have been decided. This is a slippery area of the law, and I want a reassurance from the Minister that the Government have fully thought the matter through.