Critics complain that it's unfair, but an all-women audience on Question Time will redress an imbalance in our political arenaThe BBC's decision to run with a women-only audience on tonight's Question Time should be commended for many reasons. The show will give ordinary women, whose all-important vote the parties have been falling over themselves to court, the chance to question if there's any policy substance behind their "female-friendly" spin.The Fawcett Society, which this week challenged all parties to answer the question "what about women?", is not yet convinced that there is. With the parties' leadership and key policymakers still overwhelmingly male and in a week when polls showed 49% of women don't feel politicians are listening to their views on the economy, this programme can...

Ian Davison actually had made Ricin, in oder to conduct terrorist attacks, when the BBC reported this story online they censored out he was a white supremacist and this further instance of vicious right wing terrorism has received I would say about 1% (at best) of the coverage of a Muslim who might once have thought the word ‘Ricin’. As needs to be said again this is not simply a discreet establishment protection of fascist terror, it is a Europe wide policy. The simple point is this- people are going to be hateful and violent, (and lovely and splendid, there are all kinds of everything, ahem) when these qualities are obsessively & spitefully documented in one ethnic or religious group while they are excused and covered up for in another group that is not an accident, that...

The 8th March  is celebrated throughout the world as International Women’s Day, which commemorates the political, social and economic achievements of women. Equality between women and men is a fundamental right, it's one of the common values on which the European Union is founded. In the European Parliament, International Women's Day kick starts a week long programme of events to recognise the importance of this day. The European Union has made significant progress in bridging the equality gap. However, this does not mean to say that there isn’t more to be done, and the European Union is helping to make gender equality a reality.To coincide with International Women’s Day the European Parliament is launching a campaign for the elimination of violence against women.  ...

Dear Lindsey German and Nina Power, I hope you enjoyed your International Women’s Day.  Now that the likes of Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman have been put back in their box, temporarily at least, following their crass remarks yesterday, I thought it was only fair to give your manifesto for “21st-century feminism” a bit of blog airtime.  Mind you, as soon as I read that it aimed to ”begin to organise for real equality”, I knew I was in for a fun ride.  Here is your manifesto in full, along with my *ahem* observations: Globalisation and neo liberalism have had a profound effect on the lives of millions of women. Capitalism itself has created new forms and manifestations of women’s oppression. – globalisation has indeed had a profound effect on...

Some food for the eye & the mind from half the world’s population- Lillie Langtry, Memory in Latin America- 1325 mujeres tejiendo la paz is a project presenting biographical sketches of women peace activists from all over the world with images by graphic designers. The ‘1325′ refers to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. A sampling below, see more here. Demands that really should not seem radical at all- INVEST IN CARING NOT KILLING! Women & girls do 2/3 of the world’s work, most of it unwaged. $1 trillion/year is spent on the military worldwide, more than half by the US. 10% of this would provide the essentials of life for all: water, sanitation, basic health, nutrition, literacy, and a minimum income. The Global...

“A belief need not include faith or worship of a god or gods, but must affect how a person lives their life or perceives the world.” - guidance on Harriet Harman’s new Equality Bill, explaining why vegans and teetotallers amongst others are to be given the same protection against discrimination as religious groups.  The Bill makes it a legal requirement for public authorities, including schools, to consider the impact of all their policies on minority groups, but these groups include Scientologists and pacifists as well as vegans, teetotallers and many others.  The guidance has already caused controversy after warning that schools which force girls to wear skirts may be breaking the law because the policy apparently discriminates against transsexuals by breaching the...

Supermarket giant will require its suppliers to stop practice of paying migrants less than native workersThe supermarket group Asda announced today that it has reached agreement with the union Unite to tackle discrimination against migrant workers in its UK meat and poultry factories.Under the deal Asda will require its suppliers to stop the practice of paying migrants less than indigenous employees for the same work and to eradicate the culture of bullying and harassment that has characterised much of the industry.The move comes as the leading supermarkets brace themselves for the results of an inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into conditions in the UK meat sector.The EHRC's report, due this month, is expected to be highly damaging to the reputation of both the...

Civil partnerships must be allowed in the churches and synagogues that choose to host themArriving in England in 2006 as an immigrant from the US, I recall clearly being awestruck and envious at Britain's forward thinking and tolerant stance toward same-sex couples. As the US continues to fight state-by-state for increased equality, Britain had moved decades ahead in a piece of exemplary legislation.And yet, the 2004 act included one pernicious restriction: registration of civil partnerships was prohibited from taking place on "religious premises". This prohibition was a necessary requirement to garner the support of the Church of England, who certainly worried about pressure on their local parishes and greater division within the worldwide Anglican Communion.Since 2004, pressure has...

I recently applauded the US for lifting its ban on people with HIV travelling to the States. But for every gain, there are plenty of examples of discriminatory, backward and short-sighted thinking. Take this from Australia: Under the Migration Act, people with impairments have their disability taken into consideration in meeting the health criteria as a condition of entry. The Disability Discrimination Act is suspended for the purposes of the Migration Act. As a...

I recently applauded the US for lifting its ban on people with HIV travelling to the States. But for every gain, there are plenty of examples of discriminatory, backward and short-sighted thinking. Take this from Australia: Under the Migration Act, people with impairments have their disability taken into consideration in meeting the health criteria as a condition of entry. The Disability Discrimination Act is suspended for the purposes of the Migration Act. As a...

Study of 15,000 children finds significant correlation between performance at nine months and five yearsChildren who do not reach key developmental milestones at just nine months old are far more likely to struggle at school, according to an important study published today.The Millennium Cohort Study of nearly 15,000 children says that babies who were slow to develop their motor skills at nine months were significantly more likely to be identified as behind in their cognitive development, and also likely to be less well behaved at age five.The findings will intensify the debate on how far the government should intervene to stop those from disadvantaged backgrounds falling behind before they even reach school. The correlation between performance at nine months and five years was said to...

I presume Archbishop Vincent Nichols has a good sense of humour. Talking about compassion towards people in most need of care and protection, the Archbishop said: Even the most restricted of lives is lived in transcendence by virtue of being human... If we fail to see this and honour it, then we not only fail to respect a person: we do that person ­violence. This from the same people who continually bring us homophobia...

Professional footballers have refused to appear in a campaign video against homophobia because they fear being ridiculed for taking a stand against one of the sport’s most stubborn taboos,The Independent has learnt. Both players and agents declined a request by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to take part in a video which was to use high- profile players as figureheads in the association’s drive against anti-gay prejudice....

From: Robin Hood Tax "A tiny tax on bankers that would give billions to tackle poverty and climate change, here and abroad. It sounds complicated, but actually it isn’t. A tiny tax on bankers has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year – giving a vital boost to the NHS, our schools, and the fight against child poverty – as well as tackling poverty and climate change around the world. Not complicated. Just brilliant." More here From: War On Want "The financial crisis that has swept across the world economy since 2008 has destroyed jobs and livelihoods in developed and developing countries alike. The colossal bailouts given to the banking sector by UK taxpayers have raised the prospect of public service cuts and further reductions in social welfare. War on Want and many...

I continue my rambling and disjointed treatise... (it started here)Beautiful vs. SexyContrary to what our culture tells us, beautiful and sexy are two very different things. Most people who have spent any time interacting on-line will have had the experience of becoming sexually-attracted to someone whose picture you've never seen. Most people who have spent any time interacting off-line will have met people who are truly beautiful but not in the least bit sexually attractive. You could stare at them for hours - several hours longer if they were naked - but they'd have as much chance of turning you on as a sunset or a rosebush. (And please no, if there is such thing as rosebush porn, I don't want to know).For some people who are sexually attracted to women, sexy is entirely...

“While Pope Benedict never mentioned the Equality Bill, or even Harriet Harman, it is clear that the deputy leader of the Labour party is one of the few revolutionary idealists left on the government front benches. She still believes, like a St Paul’s girls’ school Robespierre, that the state will set us free from the tyranny of individual choice …We are asked to believe Harman’s psychic numbers, supposedly the mathematical proof that her legislation, of itself, will make Britain a better society. Whatever you think of the man in the Vatican, he has said nothing as crazy as that.” - Dominic Lawson in today’s Times (full article HERE)...

He wants to come here and talk about natural law, but strangely omits the yogic flying element, yet sees it fit that we the British tax payer should shell out £20m for the privilege of him telling us we are wrong. Well EasyJet have offered to fly him here for 'nothing', diddly squat, gratis*.So I think we the British public should put our heads together on how Pope Benny can talk to his...

I've been thinking about feminine beauty recently and wanted to blog my thoughts, but I had too many of them for one post. So it'll be a few posts, and it might hop about a bit and no promises on how quickly I'll get round to the next one.Human beings are beautiful. Our faces are beautiful and our bodies are beautiful. The faces and bodies of the people we love are the most appealing visual stimuli we will ever encounter. You're beautiful. Everyone is beautiful. Even this lady, who I've mentioned before, is beautiful in this sense.But feminine beauty in most social and cultural senses is an elite quality possessed by a minority of women. And I recognise that too. Most people are nice to look at, some people are fantastic to look at, regardless of their personal charms or our...

• Bishops told to fight moves with 'missionary zeal'• Secular groups preparing protests for September tripPope Benedict XVI marked the announcement of his first papal visit to Britain with an unprecedented attack on the ­government's equality legislation yesterday, claiming it threatened religious freedom and ran contrary to "natural law".Speaking at the Vatican to visiting Catholic bishops of England and Wales, he described changes to the law as unjust and urged them to invoke "missionary zeal" to resist them.The comments came during a five-yearly trip to the Vatican by the bishops, during which they made presentations on their concerns about the place of religion in an increasingly secular society.The pope's broadside appeared to be aimed squarely at recent legislation that...

So the Pope is saying that the equality bill defies 'natural law' that may be his belief but it is also an oxymoron.Natural law, think about it, what does that mean? Look at the book of Genesis to see what natural law actually means in the bible. There is lying, fratricide, stealing, cheating on wives etc. it gets so bad that at one point God wipes out mankind bar one man, his three sons...

Benedict XVI says legislation safeguarding rights of same-sex couples violates 'natural law'Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year.In a letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the pope praised Britain's "firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all".However he criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs".It is thought his comments relate to laws that came in last year preventing adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples.The pope, whose visit is expected in September, made the comments after hearing representations from English and Welsh...

For a while now, I have been following and impressed by Enabled by Design. The basic question that Enabled by Design asks is why should anybody who requires any form of assistive equipment to support them to live independently have to put up with stuff that looks like crappy hospital equipment? The wider question that Enabeld by Design poses, of course, is one that relates to disability as a whole: why is disability —...

I've only just caught up this week with a repeat of David Cameron's apology for voting against the repeal of Section 28. This is a welcome apology from the Conservative leader (though I have concerns about the party he leads, and their views on topics such as their voting record on gay rights). There's another point here, though: I welcome the opportunity for any politician, but particularly a party leader, to note they were...

Cameron is right: society is broken. Labour have failed to fix it, but acute inequality is a Tory legacyDavid Cameron is right to point to Britain's "broken society" as an election issue. In his Hugo Young ­lecture at the end of last year, the Conservative leader cited in support of his thesis our research that found, in his words, that "among the richest countries, it's the more unequal ones that do worse according to almost every quality of life indicator".Among 21 developed market ­democracies, we found that Britain does worst on child wellbeing and badly on teenage births, imprisonment, drug abuse, trust, obesity, social mobility and mental ­illness. This week brought fresh confirmation of the pervasive and profound inequality in Britain in the form of a 460-page...

National Equality Panel's analysis shows the richest 10% is more than 100 times better off than the poorest 10%In many ways the Renton and the Green families have plenty in common – these are two busy, noisy, happy households, each with three children. In both families, the two older children are already in their early 20s, venturing out into adult life, leaving behind a much younger sibling, the baby of the house.The parents' aspirations are similar. Chris Renton hopes that his six-year-old daughter, and his older boys, will find security and stability in later life. Laura Green wants her children to be happy, loved and fulfilled in their careers.But their ability to help their children is profoundly influenced by their different circumstances. Chris, 44, describes himself as on the...

Conservative leader apologises again for previously supporting section 28 and says that teaching about equality is an important way of combating homophobic bullyingDavid Cameron has said that teaching children about equality for gay people and the importance of civil partnerships should be "embedded" in Britain's schooling.In another sign of his departure from the Tory past, Cameron again apologised for supporting section 28 and said that teaching about equality was an important way of combating homophobic bullying.The Conservative leader, who voted for the retention of section 28 as recently as 2003, made his comments at a Cameron Direct event in answer to a question from the gay rights campaign group Stonewall.The group asked Cameron whether he agreed with the Liberal Democrat leader,...

Government to announce plans offering families 'radically more choice' in how they balance work and childcareDads will be able to take up to six months' paternity leave while their child's mother returns to work, under government plans announced today.Fathers will have a legal right to take the place of the mother at home for the last three months of her nine-month maternity leave.During that time, they would be eligible for statutory government pay of £123 a week. They would then be allowed to take an additional unpaid three months off, which would effectively allow couples to have a total of 12 months' parental leave between them.The measure would allow mothers who earn more than their partners to return to work earlier, and is a victory for Harriet Harman, the Women and Equalities...

The latest social attitudes survey shows how New Labour's fabled meritocratic society has eroded our sympathy for the poorThe key statistics from the annual British social attitudes survey? Never mind the stats for the minute, the overall point is that Labour is toast: 32% identified themselves as Conservative, compared with 27% who identified as Labour. The Tories haven't been the declared party of choice in 20 years. Even before we started voting Labour, we used to pretend we were going to.Otherwise, there is good news for homosexuals and unmarried couples who cohabit (I can't believe anyone really minded us in the first place – but even the impulse to pretend to object has waned). And there is bad news for the underprivileged: increased toleration around mostly sociosexual mores...

By synthesising old Tory and traditional left ideas a genuinely egalitarian society can be achievedTraditional Toryism justified social inequality. Old Labour believed in equality of outcomes. But today both parties have eschewed their earlier approaches and aspire instead to "equality of opportunity". For Gordon Brown, it is "the whole of social justice"; indeed equalising opportunity has captured progressive thinking and legislation for the last 30 years.However, as the report by the National Equality Panel published today makes clear, this approach has failed and needs to be radically called into question. Inequality has risen, not fallen. Over those three decades the net income ratio of the top 10% to the bottom 10% has risen by more than a quarter. Governments have tended to tackle...

John Rentoul is outraged that the BBC have chosen to cover the publication of the government’s new report on equality with the headline “Rich-poor divide ‘wider than 40 years ago’.” He is of course correct to point out that the main increase in inequality over the past 40 years took place during the Thatcher years. But the Harriet Harman approved wording that he picks out of the report’s executive summary is equally misleading: The large inequality growth between the late 1970s and early 1990s has not been reversed. It certainly hasn’t been reversed, but that suggests that it has at leasted been reversing. The reality is somewhat different. I would refer you, dear reader, to page 9 of the report which has a handy graph showing both the Gini...

• 1980s income gap still not plugged, say analysts• Brown says equality panel report a 'sobering' read• Datablog: get the numbers behind this storyA detailed and startling analysis of how unequal Britain has become offers a snapshot of an increasingly divided nation where the richest 10% of the population are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10% of society.Gordon Brown described the paper, published today, as "sobering", saying: "The report illustrates starkly that despite a levelling-off of inequality in the last decade we still have much further to go."The report, An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK, scrutinises the degree to which the country has become more unequal over the past 30 years. Much of it will make uncomfortable reading for the Labour government,...

Last week, LibDem Voice brought the news of Nick Clegg’s commitment to full rights and equality for gay, lesbian, transexual and transgendered people. In an article entitled ‘Clegg calls for full gay equality – what will Cameron do?’ it explained how Nick Clegg had ‘laid down the gauntlet to the Tory leader David Cameron to justify his ‘liberal Conservatism’ by following suit’. Today comes another opportunity for Cameron to demonstrate his liberal conservative values. Twenty seven members of the Conservatives’ European Parliamentary allies, the Polish Law and Justice Party, are yet again targeting gays as they demand a government clampdown on paedophiles. Cameron has continued to insist that the Polish Party are not homophobic,but he may have...

I enjoyed the debate between some valued friends on Twitter today regarding Gok Wan's new series, How to Look Good Naked... With a Difference — the difference being that the women involved are disabled. [This post of course extends my general interest in fashion, which I know both of my readers appreciate my insights on, me being such a fashionista and all — ed]. @katiekatetweets, @enabledby, GeorgeJulian and @thehappysalmon (plus many others) all had...

Earlier this week, Rethink launched a campaign to stop the ridiculous and discriminatory practice that stops people with mental health conditions being able to undertake jury service. In my post supporting the campaign, I noted an update that a similar position may apply to people with mental health conditions becoming school governors. I'm pleased to note that this isn't actually the case. In the Social Exclusion Unit's 2004 report on Mental Health and Social...

Party claims voting records of Conservatives reveal 'shameful' history of opposing equality legislationNearly a third of David Cameron's shadow cabinet voted against gay rights legislation at some point over the last two parliaments, demonstrating their "shameful" record in tackling discrimination, according to the Liberal Democrats.They have compiled research on four examples of legislation where many Tories voted against equal rights laws. Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said progress on gay rights would "grind to a halt" if the Conservatives won the election. "The Tory record on supporting gay rights is nothing short of shameful," he said. The Lib Dem research shows:• Ten out of 32 members of the shadow cabinet voted against at least one piece of gay rights...

Dear John Denham, For a Labour minister to talk common sense is such a momentous occasion that I was in no doubt that I should be writing a letter to you this morning.  Yesterday you declared that being black or Asian no longer means you will be automatically disadvantaged.  Incredible stuff, really.  Unfortunately, your eureka moment falls apart under closer inspection. At the launch of a review of government policy on race, you made a number of similar statements .  You said progress made since 2000 meant that, while racial discrimination still existed, disadvantage was now more linked to poverty, class and identity.  For example, while children with Chinese heritage tended to excel at school, boys from white working-class areas were doing far worse.  “That does not mean...

Minorities are still overrepresented in poverty, unemployment and stop-and-search – despite what John Denham saysEthnic minorities are no longer automatically disadvantaged in Britain, says communities secretary John Denham, in a bold pre-election declaration. It gained him the headline in the Times that "Labour claims victory over racism".And continuing the spin, Denham intimates that the focus in tackling inequality should now shift to the white working class, who he sees as the main victims of disadvantage.That may all sound like a revelation, but anyone who claimed that every single black or Asian person was "automatically" disadvantaged could have only the most superficial grasp of the real meaning of racism. Discrimination is about general cases and general trends – and is in...

John Denham says racism still exists but progress has helped create a society more comfortable with diversity than ever beforePeople from ethnic minorities are no longer automatically disadvantaged in modern Britain, John Denham, the communities secretary, said today.Although racism still exists, progress on promoting racial equality in the last decade helped to create a society that is more comfortable with diversity than ever before, he argued."Britain today is not the same place as it was a decade ago," he said."We therefore need to make sure that our efforts are tackling problems of today and not those of the past."That does not mean that we should reduce our efforts to tackle racism and promote race equality, but we must avoid a one-dimensional debate that assumes all minority-ethnic...

“The full veil is not welcome in France because it runs contrary to our values and contrary to the idea we have of a woman’s dignity. Let us undertake not to give opponents of democracy, dignity and sexual equality the chance for a victory which would put our society in a very difficult situation.” - Nicolas Sarkozy, who last night threw his weight behind moves to ban the full Islamic veil in France, calling for an “unambiguous” parliamentary resolution against an item of clothing he said was not welcome in a country which valued sexual equality. (full story HERE)...

Dear Nick Clegg, In the modern political era, it is almost a given that policy announcements and speeches are leaked to the media way so that some interest can be drummed up in advance.  It was therefore quite refreshing for you to spring a surprise attack on David Cameron this week, although – as we have come to expect from the Lib Dems - some of your arguments are not overly persuasive.  In a targetted pitch at the gay community, you outlined a list of policies that you believe will ‘change the terms of debate’ around homosexuality and equality.  Unfortunately for you, I don’t think they stand up to much scrutiny. Force all schools – including faith schools – to implement anti-homophobia bullying policies and teach that homosexuality is “normal and...