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              MPs doubt UK’s commitment to equality
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
An all-party group of MPs Thursday raised doubts about the British government’s commitment to wipe out discrimination, saying that not enough action is being taken to achieve parity in employment and education. The communities and local government committee said delays to the government’s single equality bill showed the issue is not a priority and that a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights to be created in October may “not be fully ready to take on its new work.” The creation of the new anti-discrimination body, combing various equality watchdogs, had been botched and characterized by “indecision, instability and delays,” it said. In a report, the committee warned that at the present rate of progress, it may take decades to achieve equality in employment and education for some groups while for others it will never happen,” the report said. “It is estimated that it will take until 2085 for the gender pay gap to be closed and until 2105 to close the gap in ethnic employment,” it said. “The situation is much starker for some groups, such as disabled people and Pakistani and Bangladeshi women who, under the same measure, are unlikely ever to achieve parity in employment.” Committee chairman Phyllis Starkey said the government was being urged to do more to tackle unfair discrimination and reduce inequalities, particularly those that are deep-rooted and persistent in society. “There are not just moral imperatives in reducing inequality and discrimination but economic and social benefits to be gained too,” Starkey warned. One of the main concerns was that the government did not publish its proposals to bring together 40 years of laws against sex, race and religious discrimination in a new single equality bill until last month with consultations due to last until September. This is despite the announcement that the new CEHR would be created to replace the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission some two years ago. The parliamentary report also expressed fears that the budget for the new commission “will not be sufficient; and that there may be some loss of expertise among the staff of the three former commissions.” A valedictory report by the Equal Opportunities Committee also warned last week that at current rates of progress it would take 200 years for there to be as many women as men in the House of Commons and 65 years to achieve boardroom equality at top companies.–IRNA Have Your Say: MPs doubt UK’s commitment to equality Please read our posting guidelines before posting. Alternatively you can discuss this report here. Related News
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