Delegates at the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference voted yesterday to urge Lib Dem peers to “vote with their consciences” today when the Lords once again debate Government plans to scrap an equalities vision statement.
The Welsh party, at their annual conference in Cardiff, supported an emergency motion which noted “with dismay” the fact that last week Lib Dem MPs had rejected an amendment by peers to retain the General Duty which sets out a vision of a society free of discrimination.
Twitter was unanimous last week that equalities minister Jo Swinson had failed to make a convincing case why the Government should abolish the General Duty, which is enshrined in Section 3 of the 2006 Equality Act.
All but four Lib Dem MPs voted with the government whip to reject a Lords motion in March to keep the General Duty despite a last minute plea by the equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to keep the duty.
MPs John Hemming, Adrian Sanders, Sarah Teather and David Ward rebelled against the government and deputy leader Simon Hughes abstained after speaking against the government line but the whips still won the day by 310 t0 244 votes. 41 Lib Dem MPs voted to scrap the General Duty and 11 were absent. Party president Tim Farron urged ministers to back down but when they did not he voted with the whip.
Today the issue goes back to the Lords with Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats leading lobbying efforts to encourage party peers to hold fast to their position that the General Duty should be preserved.
Peers will debate amendment 35 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill tomorrow on the 20th anniversary of the death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.
Doreen Lawrence and the public service union PCS have been drawing attention to the fact that the General Duty has its’ origins in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 which emerged from the Macpherson public inquiry into Stephen’s murder by a gang of racists.
Equality experts believe that the vision of an equal Britain is of more than symbolic importance as it is an indicator of how committed the government is to equality and encapsulates the need for cultural change rather than just enforcing the law.
The coalition also plan to scrap the duty on the EHRC to carry out triannual reports into discrimination and equality in British society, restricting them instead to reporting on what work they are doing.
Critics suggest that ministers want to ditch the vision statement because they lack vision themselves on the issues. The EHRC’s budget has been slashed by over 70% since 2010 and the watchdog’s powers to launch investigations into public authorities suspected of discriminating has already been removed.
The coalition now plan to axe Equality Impact Assessments, an exercise which Britain’s public authorities must do to ensure that new policies do not discriminate and that access to services is not restricted from any groups in society.
Speaking in the Commons last week Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: “The shadow Minister for employment relations (Ian Murray) has told me about his trip to the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference last month. He spoke at a fringe meeting on employment rights at which the Minister (Jo Swinson) tried to justify all these changes. My understanding is that people walked out of that room in disgust at the measures that she is trying to push through today.”
Other MPs said that the government have not defined what the EHRC would do better as a result of the abolition of the general duty and that this measure was a “killer blow” to the EHRC by undermining its remit.
Welsh Lib Dems, led by Kirsty Williams (pictured), piled on pressure ahead of today’s vote by supporting with a comfortably majority an emergency motion which compares the General Duty with the party’s own preamble to the constitution, which also sets out a vision of equality.
Now one of the party’s national conferences has had a chance to vote on the issue campaigners hope parliamentarians will take note of the feelings of grassroots party members.
The full motion:
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill
Conference notes with satisfaction that in March this year a majority of Lib Dem peers supported an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (the Bill) to retain section 3 of the Equality Act 2006, the section known as the General Equality Duty, that gives the Equality and Human Rights Commission (the Commission) its core purpose:
The Commission shall exercise its functions under this Part with a view to encouraging and supporting the development of a society in which-
(a) people’s ability to achieve their potential is not limited by prejudice or discrimination,
(b) there is respect for and protection of each individual’s human rights,
(c) there is respect for the dignity and worth of each individual,
(d) each individual has an equal opportunity to participate in society, and
(e) there is mutual respect between groups based on understanding and valuing of diversity and on shared respect for equality and human rights.Conference notes with dismay that last Tuesday our MPs voted with the Tories to throw out the said amendment. The Bill will go back to the Lords on Monday 22 April.
Conference believes that section 3 of the 2006 Act is entirely congruent with the preamble to our party’s constitution, and that to repeal it would be to act against all our fundamental beliefs and instincts.
Conference further believes that our MPs had no mandate so to vote last Tuesday because:
1. The party fully supported the 2006 Act.
2. In our 2010 manifesto the Party reaffirmed its commitment to further advancing equality and human rights.
3. This commitment was carried forward into the coalition agreement.Conference is concerned that the repeal of Section 3, together with hugely disproportionate cuts to the Commission’s resources and the current review of the Public Sector Equality Duty, are part of a concerted effort by our coalition partners to undermine the equalities movement and legislation in Britain, contrary to all Lib Dem beliefs and values.
Section 3 is no mere symbol. It is the beacon that lights the way forward for the Commission and the equalities movement. We have to ensure that section 3 stands. Our first opportunity of ensuring that is for our peers to continue to support amendment 35, to retain section 3, when the ERR Bill comes back to the Lords on Monday 22 April, sending it back again to the Commons.
Conference calls for Lib Dem peers to be allowed to vote with their consciences on amendment 35 of the ERR Bill. By so allowing the party will send out the signal that our commitment to equality and human rights is undiminished despite being in coalition with a party whose commitment is at best questionable.
