The Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Cabinet Minister for Women

"Equality And Human Rights in the 21st Century"

I want to say a special thank you to my colleague Jacqui Smith, who has led this work across Government, led the work of the Taskforce, and particularly to the officials, led by Angela Mason in the Women and Equality Unit, who have worked extraordinarily hard to put these proposals together. I also want to thank Trevor Phillips, the Chair of the CRE, Julie Mellor, the Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, and Bert Massie, Chair of the Disability Rights Commission.

I have known personally, over many years, the outstanding work of all three existing commissions. I want to pay tribute to the contribution they have made to Britain’s national life, as well as to the work of thousands of other organisations and individuals who have campaigned on discrimination and equality issues over the last thirty years.

They have put issues of equality on the map, they’ve made equality an issue for us all. For example, ten years ago, disability was something hardly seen as an issue of discrimination or inequality. Today, thanks to the innovative work of the DRC and the disability movement, the equality of people with disabilities is recognised as a major social issue.

I know that many of you, and many of those who contributed, to the work of the Taskforce have been concerned that in creating a single Commission, we would lose some of the particularly important and valuable work done by the existing Commisions. And I think that the proposals we have put together with you, have avoided that trap.

So I want to take the opportunity to explain why we believe it is time to move on and create a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

All of us start from a simple belief: that everyone is of equal value, entitled to respect for their rights and dignity. That’s the ethical case for equality. And alongside that is the economic case increasingly recognised as powerful in a world where businesses depend on our ability to harness the talent and potential of everyone. So the consensus around equality is growing.

But the backlash is growing too.

Headlines about migrants “flooding in”; the BNP making progress in areas like Burnley; increasing attacks on Muslim communities and mosques; and at the same time a revival of ugly anti-semitism; continuing prejudice, sometimes violent, against gay men, lesbians and trans-sexuals; and the constant belittling of anti-discrimination efforts as just another piece of ‘political correctness’.

I believe that we have reached the limits of what we can achieve with three Commissions – particularly now that we have added new anti-discrimination laws to deal with sexual orientation, and religious and other belief, with age discrimination to follow.

There are practical reasons for that conclusion.

But there are three other, far more important reasons.

First, people have multiple identities. In a world where individual identities are becoming increasingly important, we need to see people as a whole – not put them into boxes marked race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability.

We’ve all been put in a box at various points. You’re black. You’re a woman. You’re too young – or too old. You’re in the wrong place. You haven’t got the ability to do that job.

It’s not right. And we’ve all said so. But we’ve all said so from our individual lobbies and organisations.

And the result is that responsibility for challenging discrimination has been sectionalised. Problems are seen as the responsibility of the groups who experience discrimination to sort out rather than the responsibility of society as a whole.

That is why I agree with those who say we have reached the limits of multi-culturalism.

Lord Bhiku Parekh, one of our wisest philosophers, talks about identity in this way: ‘If you look at our own history and history of any other community, you will find that we carry multiple identities. I am a male. I am a short man. I am brown. I am a professor, a Member of Parliament, a Hindu, and if you like an Indian, all kinds of it. Why would I at any given point of time want to become just one element of my identity.’

Or the young woman I know in my own city of Leicester, who says about her identity: ‘I love hip-hop, I support Leicester City, I’m great at art – and I’m in a wheelchair.’

People’s identities are multiple and complex. We have to keep challenging the prejudice and discrimination that hold people back … but we have to do that in a way that recognises the whole person, not simply the one aspect of them that the prejudiced and the discriminators pick on.

So that is the first argument – and the first challenge – for our new Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The second reason – and the second challenge – is that we need to move from a perception that equality is about ‘minorities’ – to a belief that equality is for everyone.

We used to talk, for instance, of the educational disadvantage of the black and minority ethnic community. The reality, of course, is far more complex. Take school results, boys and girls from Chinese and Indian British families are doing better than anyone else. White girls do better than white boys; middle-class children better than working-class. Boys, especially, from African-Caribbean and, particularly, working-class Punjabi and Bengali families have far lower attainments. But lowest of all, in those average test results, are white working-class boys.

These are the boys growing up in families and communities (I represent some of them in Leicester) where the old manufacturing jobs have disappeared, many of the parents aren’t in work, kids easily turn to drugs and crime … and where if you do apply for a job, many employers will take one look at the post code and not even offer you an interview.

And in other neighbourhoods, and other cities, we have the boys growing up in disadvantaged Muslim communities – equally alienated from the chances they see other people getting.

Both groups – and others – feeling that their identity isn’t recognised or respected. Both blaming each other for getting more. Both at risk of asserting their identity in violent forms: the BNP in one community, Islamic extremism in another.

So the new Commission is part of our effort to create a culture of human rights, a culture of equality that embraces everyone.

Take the issue of housing in some of our poorest urban communities. In areas of racial tension, you will find some white families feeling deep resentment at what they perceive as favouritism towards some black and Asian families and asylum seekers. And equally those communities feel done down and persecuted by racially motivated crimes.

So the new Commission needs to address the issue of public service provision, and ensure that all groups can access services that reflect their religious, cultural, social and linguistic needs, whatever those are.

But in providing for those minority needs, public services must avoid the exclusion of others. This is where the role of the Commission, as the communities’ human rights guardian, will be so critical.

That’s why the Commission will have a strong local voice, as well as a joined up centre.

And I think the local work of so many excellent race equality councils gives us that foundation for reaching out to many different communities. And we need those communities together, to share their experiences, to build understanding and fight the common cause of getting services and opportunities that serve their needs.

Thirdly – the Commission will be able to deal with conflicting rights

We know that human rights are not a straightforward matter.

One person’s freedom of expression can be another person’s persecution. One person’s religion can be an attack on another person’s sexual orientation.

So again, we need a Commission that can take a holistic view and provide a broader context within which we can resolve how people’s human rights will best be respected for the benefit of society as whole and each member of it

The Commission will also be better able at a very practical level to deal with the overall impact of discrimination legislation on businesses and public service employers. Businesses increasingly look at equality and diversity issues as a whole. They need one source of support and advice, not three different commissions and other bodies

The Commission has enormous potential. The White Paper sets out how we might achieve this.

First, the new Commission needs real teeth. It needs a strong chair, a strong Chief Executive and a strong board. It will be and needs to be independent of Government; able to turn around and criticise it where policies aren’t working.

Second, it needs a wide remit. It needs to deal as easily with statutory codes as it does with best practice; as effectively with the public sector as it does with the private sector.

So we now intend to take practical steps to introduce a duty to promote equality of opportunity between women and men in the public sector, something the EOC has long campaigned for

We think this is the right thing to do, and building on the statutory duties on race and disability, it will help our public services to be even more responsive to everybody’s needs.
Third, it needs a wide reach and to work well with local partners.
So big challenges, big vision there for the new Commission. And I’m very confident, having frankly, 2 or 3 years ago, been quite agnostic about whether or not a single Commission was the right thing to do, I am now absolutely convinced that this is not only the right thing to do it is an enormously important and exciting opportunity for all of us to work together to create a society in which human rights, equality and the integrity and worth for every individual are all given much greater recognition and much greater fulfilment.

Thank you.