I hope it goes without saying that I stand opposed to all forms of discrimination; having been a victim of violence, prejudice and being forced out of the country of my birth because of my skin colour, I can sadly say that too much of my life has been shaped by discrimination.
Yet, I am strongly opposed to the amendment to the Equalities Act 2010 that was brought in during the last Parliament.
At the time it was passed, I was a Government Whip alongside my Noble Friend the Minister. With that role comes many great privileges, but it also means that there are occasions when you are unable to speak out on some matters that you care about. Unfortunately this was one such occasion, and I am sorry I was unable to express a much clearer view on behalf of the vast majority of the British Hindu community.
The Government were, at the time, opposed to the Amendment to the Equalities Act for wholly sensible reasons. There are a number of difficulties with the amendment; reaching a consensus on the definition of caste, questions over the actual level of caste discrimination in the UK, and also whether Amending the list of criteria to include caste will actually be a help or a hindrance, given recent advances in case law through the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
The Government’s position was supported by the elected House of Commons; but the coalition of Liberal, Crossbench and Labour peers failed to heed the wishes of our elected representatives, with 181 Peers voting for the amendment, and 168 Conservative Peers voting against.
I feel the Amendment to the Equalities Act should be withdrawn for a different reason. I have spoken in your Lordship’s House before about the successes of the British Indian community, and my pride at how well integrated the community is. It’s a vital part of this nation’s social fabric.
One of the advances the British Indian community has made is to embrace the values of this great nation and to leave behind the rigid, outdated and divisive notions of caste.
This has been a great advancement, and differentiates us from almost every state in India. My concern is that, however well-intentioned the Noble Lord, Lord Harries is in pushing this particular cause, what he’s actually doing is bringing to the surface social forces that are almost entirely irrelevant to this country.
I do not believe that those communities who come to the UK should be able to bring their own values and rules. They should make every effort to fit into the society around them. By making Caste such a prominent part of our discrimination laws, I fear we are undermining community cohesion, rather than strengthening it.
I believe all Noble Lords will agree this matter is hugely divisive. The British Hindu community has felt somewhat persecuted by this Caste Discrimination Campaign; they cannot understand why, when there is so little evidence of caste discrimination, we are pressing ahead with legislation that our elected representatives did not support.
And I think it points to a worrying trend; we are so often looking for ways to differentiate ourselves from each other; to find sub-categories that we belong to. I fear this is yet another way of trying to make people different, rather than looking to unite people.
I would urge the Government to bring legislation to repeal the amendment to the Equalities Act 2010. It is extremely difficult – if not impossible – to implement, it is unnecessary given there is very little hard evidence of caste discrimination, it supports out of date notions of caste that belong in a different continent, it was not supported by our elected representatives and it is divisive and hugely offensive to many British Hindus.
I hope my Noble Friend the Minister will set out a clear path for its repeal as soon as possible.
(The above is an extract from Lord Popat's speech at the House of Lords on 11 July 2016. It is reproduced here on his request).
