Discrimination

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 8:17 pm on 21 May 2008.

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Photo of Baroness Prashar Baroness Prashar Crossbench 8:17, 21 May 2008

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, for initiating the debate and for bringing this anomaly to the attention of the House. As the noble Lord, Lord Lester, explained, there is an unfair gap in the law. When an individual experiences discrimination based on her race or ethnicity, she has the benefit, correctly so, of a reverse onus of proof. The burden of proving that there was no discrimination shifts to the defendant. The same benefit does not apply to an individual who experiences discrimination based on her colour or national origin. That distinction itself creates inequality. Those who experience discrimination based on race or ethnicity are treated differently, and better, than those whose colour or national origin are the basis of their discriminatory treatment.

It cannot be that this unequal application of anti-discrimination law was intended, especially because the Race Relations Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, colour and national origin. That gap is an example of inconsistencies and anomalies that characterise current anti-discrimination law. I very strongly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Lester, who clearly and cogently expressed what is needed. As he said, this House has expertise in all the strands of discrimination. That expertise must be used to ensure that we get new equality legislation based on the criteria that he so clearly described and that the standards that he set are met.

As someone who has over the years been involved in the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation, I think that there is a great deal of merit in ensuring that we have a single equality Bill that is consistent and straightforward to implement and enforce. It would be helpful to have legislation where enforcement is not solely reliant on individual complaints but encourages proactive action and, as the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said, is self-generating in promoting equality of opportunity. Those of us who have been involved in implementation recognise the importance of having a framework that encourages promotion of equality of opportunity.

As the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said, some excellent work was done in 2003 by Bob Hepple on the noble Lord's Equality Bill. That provides a very helpful model on which the single equality Bill can be based. Combining that work with the expertise in this House, I very much hope that we can move to a single equality Bill based on the criteria so clearly outlined by the noble Lord. I hope that the Government will ensure not only that the inconsistencies and anomalies are remedied, but that the forthcoming Bill will meet the criteria and provide a framework that will help us to promote equality in a consistent manner.