Nick Clegg dismisses thinktank's report as 'single snapshot' as equality watchdog threatens government with actionNick Clegg was tonight facing renewed pressure over the budget when Britain's equalities watchdog warned of action if ministers failed to carry out a statutory assessment of the impact of spending cuts on vulnerable people.As the deputy prime minister insisted that fairness lay at the heart of the coalition programme, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it might censure the government unless ministers can prove they met a legal requirement to consider the impact of cuts on the poor.Clegg found himself under pressure after the Institute for Fiscal Studies described the budget today as "clearly regressive". The respected and impartial thinktank said that welfare...

Women are paid 18% less than male counterparts as glass ceiling holds back the highest fliersThe NHS faces a chronic shortage of women in senior positions as female medical staff hit a glass ceiling, doctors' leaders are warning.Fewer than 30% of consultant posts in the health service are held by women, even though two-thirds of doctors entering the profession are female. Female doctors also earn, in general, 18% less than male doctors.Now the British Medical Association – which represents more than 140,000 doctors and medical students — is launching a new initiative called Women in Medicine to try to boost the number of women in senior medical posts.Professor Bhupinder Sandhu, the chair of the BMA's equality and diversity committee, said: "Women have come a long way since the 19th...

Chartered Management Institute data shows that gender wage differential still wide – 40 years after equal pay lawsWorking women who thought they might live to see Britain's pay gap finally close will have to hold out another 57 years, according to research published today.Forty years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, the study shows that the gender pay gap remains stubborn and that male and female managers will not be paid the same until 2067.Women have also been harder hit by the recession, with more female workers than men being made redundant in the past 12 months, the research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) shows.The findings will intensify calls from campaigners for the new government to do more to ensure equal pay in the UK, which has one of the biggest gender...

• Fears that A* grades will hold back state sector• Universities divided over the impact of new systemPrivately educated pupils are expected to get three times as many of the new A* grades at A-level as state school students when results are announced this week.The widening gulf between children in the independent sector and the state system will fuel concern about the social makeup of universities, which are under intense pressure this year as record numbers of applicants fight for places.Bright children from the poorest homes are seven times less likely to go to a top university than their richer peers, according to the Office for Fair Access (Offa), an education watchdog.The head of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents more than 1,200 fee-paying schools, told the...

A polemic that blames inequality for most troubles in our society has energised LabourLast week, a group of academics decided that because of the debt he pumped into the economy and the poison he pumped into the Labour party, Gordon Brown was the third-worst British prime minister since 1945. To which the response from all sane onlookers was: "What, only the third?"The charge list against him is long enough for a judge to send Labour to a dark cell for years. It would have been grossly negligent for any government to boast that its "light-touch" regulation had "abolished boom and bust", while failing to notice that it was helping push the banking system towards the edge of a cliff. For a Labour government to set aside social democracy's well-merited suspicion of finance capital was truly...

The pay freeze and savage cutbacks announced by the coalition government will primarily affect women, who make up 85% of part-time workers in the civil serviceSome of the fear being felt by women who work in the public sector can be seen in Newcastle. It is there that Natasha Nicholson, an outreach worker for Sure Start, jokes that next year she will be able to afford only beans on toast for her young family. "The reality is we might not even be able to pay for the bread," says Nicholson, 25, through a choked laugh.And in Yorkshire, in Hebden Bridge, Lisa Ansell, a former civil servant and social worker, remembers settling down with a calculator after watching the chancellor, George Osborne, deliver his emergency budget. "I suddenly realised just how much I rely on public services: on...

Dan Hannan is outraged that The Fawcett Society is attempting to subvert the will of Parliament through a legal challenge to the Coalition's Emergency Budget.It is worth remembering that we came through a civil war to establish the principle that revenues should be levied and disbursed by the House of Commons. If the Fawcett Society wants a different budget, its members should put themselves up for election and argue their case. Then again, why go to all the trouble of persuading the voters when you can simply subvert the democratic process through the courts?Indeed, although this seems a petty argument to make when Parliament has so willingly signed away its power—the power, I might remind you, that it borrows from us—to another unelected QUANGO, i.e. the European Union.So, what is...

Commons vote could be overturned in the courts if MPs were not told that bulk of the £8bn cutbacks would target womenThe coalition government's emergency budget could be branded unlawful after a groundbreaking legal case was launched in the high court. Papers filed on Friday claim that Treasury officials broke the law by failing to carry out an assessment of whether the plans for heavy spending cuts would hit women hardest.The action is being taken by the country's leading women's rights group in what is believed to be the first ever legal challenge to a British government's budget. The Fawcett Society, which believes the plans "risk rolling back women's equality in the UK by a generation", is being represented by barristers from Matrix Chambers, which was co-founded by Cherie Booth,...

Projection of British population over 40 years shows sharp growth in ethnic groups outside of white British majorityEthnic minorities will make up a fifth of Britain's population by 2051, compared with 8% in 2001, according to new projections published today by the University of Leeds.The figures, which show Britain's total population growing to 77.7 million, also indicate that the UK will become far less segregated as ethnic groups disperse throughout the country. In October, the Office for National Statistics predicted the population would exceed 70m by 2029.Researchers found striking differences in the respective growth rates of the 16 ethnic groups studied. White British and Irish groups are expected to grow the most slowly, while the so-called other white group is projected to grow...

They kept equality but for some reason they later dropped the bit about deathTyler recently watched a repeat of Simon Schama's always entertaining History of Britain. It was the episode about the French Revolution and its effects on Britain. Being a notorious old lefty, Schama naturally stressed the boost the Revolution gave to Britain's so-called radicals. How their struggle against the evil Tories and other forces of oppression here took inspiration from the wonderful transformation just across the Channel. But even old Si had to acknowledge the wonderful transformation got a little out of hand. That the best of intentions as regards equality somehow ended in butchery and the streets of Paris running with blood. And he even hinted that almost all such...

Department of Health and NHS criticised for making too little progress on tackling key barometer of inequalityThe life expectancy gap between rich and poor people in England is widening, despite years of government and NHS action, a hard-hitting National Audit Office report reveals today.Extensive efforts have failed to reduce the wide differential, which can still be 10 years or more depending on socio-economic background, says the public spending watchdog. While life expectancy has risen generally, it is increasing at a slower rate for England's poorest citizens.In Blackpool, for example, men live for an average of 73.6 years, which is 10.7 fewer than men in Kensington and Chelsea in central London, who reach 84.3 years. Similarly, women in the Lancashire town typically die at 78.8...

I've been sent a little booklet published by that enterprising pressure group the Consenting Adults Action Network (proof that you don't need to be a taxpayer-funded fake charity to run effective campaigns, though presumably it helps) about the continuing and indeed worsening discrimination face by various sexual minorities in officially tolerant, liberal Britain. Entitled Beyond the Circle (and obtainable from CAAN here, for £6.50) it's written by the former John Ozimek, regular contributor to The Register, who now goes under the name Jane Fae.The circle in question is the "charmed circle" of officially and socially sanctioned sexual identity. Originally limited to heterosexual marriage, this has been extended to embrace cohabiting relationships and gay partnerships, an advance still...

Welfare debate should shift from obsession with single mothers, says Labour MP Frank FieldBritain must end its obsession with getting young single mothers into work, and focus on young, unemployed fathers whose historic role as the family breadwinner has had to be taken over by the taxpayer, Frank Field, David Cameron's poverty adviser, has said.Field claimed many of these young, unemployed fathers will not accept offers of work for less than £300 a week since they feel it is not worth their while.He suggests that men who refuse to take up a government offer of work should have their benefit removed altogether, a far tougher sanction than they face under the current benefits regime.Field, the Labour MP who was commissioned by the government to carry out a review of poverty, said: "The...

Leaked memo shows how coalition government ministers discussed raiding free meals budgetThe government was today accused of draining money from schemes aimed at the poorest children to fund their flagship policy of Swedish-style "free" schools.Headteachers said the coalition's plan to introduce hundreds of the free schools risked depriving money from existing primary and secondaries amid suggestions that Michael Gove, the education secretary, considered taking money from the free school meal programme to fund the schools. On Tuesday Gove is expected to announce the terms of a review of Labour's £55bn Building Schools for the Future programme, with a review group made up of schools, local authorities and construction experts which will report before the comprehensive spending review in...

There are twice as many asylum seekers in Westminster as there are in the entire South West, according to new Home Office figures. Statistics from April 2010 show a mere 30 asylum seekers (1 per cent of the UK’s total) are claiming subsistence-only benefits of £35.52 a week in the region, fewer than many parts of London, Leeds, Manchester, Luton, Slough and Brighton. And those claiming assistance with accommodation number only 635 in the South West (Bristol 190, Gloucester 95, Plymouth 225, South Gloucestershire 40, Swindon 85) – just 3.4 per cent of the UK total. Speaking in the run-up to Refugee Week, Katie Pratt, Equality South West’s deputy chief executive, has written to new home secretary Theresa May calling on her to let asylum seekers work. Katie said: “Asylum seekers,...

Harriet wants half of the Shadow Cabinet to be women. I like the idea in principle but I'm left wondering if the reason that it may be an achievable demand can partly be put down to the view that political office is no longer coveted in the way that it was?In 'the new politics', politicians are now sharing their power with others. And, of course, with the increasingly powerful political centre.Women are outnumbered 2:1 on Labour's Westminster benches (a significantly better ratio than any of the other parties). There are 27 posts with two additional 'allowed to attend' seats around the table. Currently, six are women (and one of those 'allowed to attend posts is a woman as well).The leap from six to 14 is easily do-able, I would have thought, though it means that eight blokes will have to...

The idea that Pauline. Campbells' campaigning for vulnerable women, held in custody and at risk of harm, is under consideration for a documentary drama on Channel 4. Her work, some of which was highlighted on this blog, was given considerable coverage. Her untimely death stopped a powerful campaign developing. She hasn't been...

A few days ago, the IEA blog recounted the story of an ancient Nordic legend, as a way of illustrating the destructive potential of a book called The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.Once upon a time, an old Nordic legend tells, there lived a princess in Burgundy who owned a huge treasure of gold. One night the treacherous Hagen von Tronje, an advisor to the king, broke into the treasury and looted it; but not for himself, nor for anyone else. Hagen stole the gold so that the princess could not have it. He feared the power gold could buy, so he plunged it into the torrents of the Rhine. In Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Hagen von Tronje has two worthy modern-day successors. Their book, The Spirit Level, is a radical plea for egalitarianism. Greater...

I never wanted to be someone's property. Human beings shouldn't own one another. . For women in Britain, the Married Woman's Property Act of 1882 was the first step in a vital succession of laws freeing women from forced dependency on - and subjection to - their husbands.Laws and regulations have never been good at dealing with the complicated intimacies of human lives. It seems wrong to me that a man or woman claiming benefits who embarks on a sexual relationship is often expected to demand money from his or her sexual partner. It looks like charging for sexual favours. It turns the relationship from one of potential equality into something close to prostitution. Many relationships aren't easy to define or regulate. They can be fragile and new. They can be an extension of...

I spent yesterday at a conference run by Vital Voices (http://vitalvoices.org/) - the global network of leaders from Hillary Clinton to Guatemala's Nobel Prize Winner Rigoberta Menchu to Beth Brooke (one of Forbes' 100 most powerful women in the world). The talks were exciting - full of energy - as well as very practical. Some spoke openly about the limitations that women of all cultures often struggle to overcome, such as the tendency to “self-limit" and not dream big; the tendency to feel like we have to solve everything ourselves; the ability to worry on behalf of everyone around us! I smiled as a whole stack of us looked at the ground clearly thinking that some of it sounded just a little too familiar. But there are,...

A glance at the make-up of the new cabinet does not make great reading for equality campaigners. 86% male, 97% white, 59% privately educated and 69% oxbridge educated – hardly a great advert for our diverse and multicultural society, or indeed a state education. In their defence the Lib-Dems and Tories can point to Labour’s final years in office which shows a broadly similar pattern, with the exception of eductional background, in which there has been a definite backward step. Nick Clegg and David Cameron yesterday talking about aspiring to a new way of doing politics – a noble statement in itself, but surely we should start by making sure that politics is reflective of our society, not just in terms of political parties but in race, gender and class? If you think this...

A few days ago I wrote optimistically about the prospect of a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Now that we have a coalition for real, I feel even more cheered. Part of my argument in my earlier post was that there needs to be cultural change in politics. When I listened to the radio last night and heard David Cameron and Nick Clegg enthusing about the “new politics”, I felt like a major hurdle had been crossed. Of course, a lot of it is probably hollow rhetoric. But with the parties’ actions so far, they have shown that they can put aside party differences and constructively work together. This is — without a doubt — a great thing. Is there enough action on the voting system? Of course, it is not easy to stomach some of the...

3120 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false I am on the whole delighted today; amazed that a man, whom I knew had something good going for him from the moment I met him, that I drove about for a day in the back of my car during his party leadership campaign, is now Deputy Prime Minster.  I suspect both car and driver have improved in quality somewhat!  Well done, Nick!  Hooray! However, there is one big fly in the ointment for me and that is what looks to be like the lack of women in this new coalition government.  An historic, new type of government and it’s still white, middle class men taking almost every plum job.  The exception, as just announced is Theresa May, who seems to have two jobs Home Secretary and Women and Equalities. That to me, suggests...

posted by kIn my brief and ineffectual period of political involvement – back in the 1970s - I learnt some of the rules about elections. I saw how counts were conducted and scrutinised, I discovered that there were limits on party spending in any constituency – and that they started the moment a candidate stopped being called the “prospective party candidate” after his official adoption for the seat, and I learnt the rules on treating. “Treating” is regarded in electoral law as a form of bribing the electorate. I learnt that the rules were so strict that if I was working in a committee room on election day, I'd have to pay for any coffee and biscuits I consumed, even though the committee room was in the house of a personal friend. If I didn't pay for my mid-morning snack,...

Conservative high-flyer Philippa Stroud founded a church that tried to 'cure' homosexuals by driving out their 'demonsA high-flying prospective Conservative MP, credited with shaping many of the party's social policies, founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals by driving out their "demons" through prayer.Philippa Stroud, who is likely to win the Sutton and Cheam seat on Thursday and is head of the Centre for Social Justice, the thinktank set up by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, has heavily influenced David Cameron's beliefs on subjects such as the family. A popular and energetic Tory, she is seen as one of the party's rising stars.The CSJ reportedly claims to have formulated as many as 70 of the party's policies. Stroud has spoken of how her Christian faith has...

Welcome to Blogging Against Disablism Day 2010!Thanks very much to everyone who helped to spread the word and to everyone posting about disability discrimination today.If you have written a post, please leave a comment including:1. The full URL of your post2. Which category you would like your post to go in.I shall gradually add new posts to the archive below - please be patient, but please let me know if you spot any errors.Blogging Against Disablism 2010Employment(Disability discrimination in the workplace, recruitment issues and unemployment). Education(Attitudes and practical issues effecting disabled people and the discussion of disability in education, from preschool to university and workplace training.)Technology and Web AccessibilitySpecial Education Mangomon Blog: How does...

Stefan Cross has just won yet another huge payout for low-paid women – in Birmingham this time. Councils despise him. But why are unions also at war with the activist fighting for gender pay equality?It looked like a great day for women, trade unions, public-sector workers, idealistic lawyers, the whole kaboodle. In short, a great day for justice. Everybody seemed to have won when it was announced this week that 4,000 women in Birmingham would be compensated for a pay and grading structure that had discriminated against them for decades. The reality was somewhat different. As the trade unions claimed victory for themselves and the lawyers claimed victory for themselves, this could not have been less of a celebration of solidarity.Perhaps it's fitting that this story has reached its...

• Women were excluded from bonuses of up to 160%• Unions welcome tribunal ruling as 'major' victoryMore than 4,000 female council workers have won the right to be paid the same as their male colleagues in a case which could lead to payouts worth about £200m.An employment tribunal found in favour of female workers employed by Birmingham city council in 49 different jobs, including lollipop ladies and cleaners, who complained of being excluded from bonuses – worth up to 160% of their basic pay – paid to men.The tribunal will now assess the level of awards to be made to the workers.All the women were employed in traditionally female-dominated roles, such as cleaning, care and catering, as well as administrative jobs.During the seven-week hearing, the tribunal heard how a man doing...

posted by kathySometimes life gets in the way of things we plan to do. I've been busy with work and Rhiannon with her studies. There were things to say, but we didn't say them on this blog. .There were plenty of conversations in between, especially after Meeting. Lately we've been discussing the general election. We're not unanimous and many of us are undecided. One of today's attenders summed up the question as whether to vote strategically or vote your conscience. I suspect that's a dilemma many voters face.There's no one party particularly favoured by Quakers. I've known Quakers in all three mainstream English parties as well as a number of fringe parties. Most aren't members of political parties at all but they usually vote, take a strong interest in politics and may support...

posted by kWhen I began this blog, I was inspired by two men. Gerard Mulholland lived in a Paris suburb. For many years heart problems and, more recently diabetes, affected his capacity to work and travel. This didn't end his concern with the state of the world and with human beings. From his computer he engaged in political debate – on public message boards and through email correspondence with his friends. He was always concerned with questions of liberty and the related question of equality. In his discussions on public forums his unusual sense of democracy shone – he was as happy at a lively debate on the Sun message boards as in forums run by the BBC, the Guardian or Republic. His concern was dialogue and, while he would put his own view as forcefully as he could, he would...

I last went to a candidates' meeting in 1997, uncertain how to vote. Part of me desperately wanted an excuse to vote Labour so that I could be part of the overthrow of Thatcherism and be sure that things could only get better. There was only one meeting. I sat on a hard pew in the packed local Baptist church, surrounded by hopeful voters, and wished that I shared their optimism.This year, there's a choice of candidates' meetings: five, I think, in our part of the constituency. The local newspaper has got involved and is sponsoring debates. I wondered how many people would attend the meeting I'd selected. It was in a local school and clashed with the beginning of the first party leaders' debate on TV. Once again, I wasn't keen but I accompanied my son who's thinking hard about how...

Danny Dorling's new book exposes the unprecedented rises in inequality that put us on a par with Victorian society – and explains why they endureDanny Dorling has been readying himself for some indignant reactions in political circles to his latest book, unequivocally titled Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, and published as the election campaign is in full swing. "Labour people will be angry because they will say, 'You haven't talked about what we've done, and we've done so very much.' They won't accept it. And the Conservatives will use it to bash Labour as part of their broken Britain thing." Pausing for a moment, the lifelong Labour voter adds: "It's very strange finding yourself being quoted by the Tories."Dorling, a professor of human geography at Sheffield University,...

Blogging Against Disablism day will be on Saturday, 1st May. This is the day where all around the world, disabled and non-disabled people will blog about their experiences, observations and thoughts about disability discrimination. In this way, we hope to raise awareness of inequality, promote equality and celebrate the progress we've made.How to take part.1. Post a commentbelow to say you intend to join in. I will then add you to the list of participants on the sidebar of this blog. Everyone is welcome.2. Spread the word by linking to this site, displaying our banner and/ or telling everyone about it. The entire success of Blogging Against Disablism Day depends entirely on bloggers telling other bloggers and readers in advance.3. Write a post on the subject of disability...

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Chris Grayling seems to have survived his supposed gaffe over the anti-gay B&B owners question. David Cameron might have chosen to make an example of him, Howard Flyte-style, in order to demonstrate the Conservatives' new metropolitan progressive chic. Peter Tatchell warned darkly at the weekend of the pink votes that stood to be lost. No doubt there are compensatory bigot votes to gain. At this stage in the electoral process you can't afford to be too idealistic. If Grayling had gone, the story might have turned into one of Cameronite bullying of traditional Tories. It would certainly have lasted a few vital days more, souring the start of the campaign. Thank goodness, they will be thinking, it came out during the Easter weekend. Grayling's gaffe, if such it was, was scarcely...

Party say comments were recollection of his old view, as doubts emerge over shadow home secretary's future roleConservatives rounded on their shadow home secretary today after he attracted fresh concern about intolerance at the top of the party by saying owners of bed and breakfasts should be allowed to turn away gay couples.Colleagues of Chris Grayling sought to limit the damage done by his comments, made to a thinktank last week, that he believed individuals running B&Bs; from their homes should be allowed to turn homosexual guests away.Increasing speculation that he would not become the home secretary should the Tories win the election, one shadow minister said today: "There's an attempt [by Labour] to suggest Grayling's comments reveal party-wide homophobia, whereas the real reason...

Teachers' assessment of children's ability is undermined by stereotyping, says researchBlack children are being systematically marked down by their teachers who are unconsciously stereotyping them, it has been revealed.Academics looked at the marks given to thousands of children at age 11. They compared their results in Sats, nationally set tests marked remotely, with the assessments made by teachers in the classroom and in internal tests. The findings suggest that low expectations are damaging children's prospects.The study concludes that black pupils perform consistently better in external exams than in teacher assessment. The opposite is true for Indian and Chinese children, who tend to be "over-assessed" by teachers. It also finds that white children from very poor neighbourhoods...

• B&Bs; 'should have right to bar gays'• Exclusion would violate law – Labour• Audio: Listen to the recordingThe Tories were embroiled in a furious row over lesbian and gay rightson Saturday after the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, was secretly taped suggesting that people who ran bed and breakfasts in their homes should "have the right" to turn away homosexual couples.The comments, made by Grayling last week to a leading centre-right thinktank, drew an angry response from gay groups and other parties, which said they were evidence that senior figures in David Cameron's party still tolerate prejudice.In a recording of the meeting of the Centre for Policy Studies, obtained by the Observer, Grayling makes clear he has always believed that those who run B&Bs; should be free...

The fuss around the budget distracted from CallMeDave's utter carcrash interview with Gay Times about the Conservative journey on the thorny issue of equality. Their history has been less than glittering, with the Section 28 debate being the particular low of recent history. Certainly, there has been a shift in the image of the Conservative party, as this particular piece of nasty history has been gradually airbrushed out. And then Dave, to secure votes to elect him as leader, promised to withdraw from their European group and form a new group with a bunch of more extreme partners, whose views on issues like homosexuality are rather less advanced.This has created something of a Tory dichotomy, as the Cameroon surface skim is liberal, but the political application in the European...