Section 28 skirmish is prelude to a war on inequality
By Rachel Sylvester
- Equal perks at work for gay men and lesbians
BOTH Tony Blair and William Hague told the House of Commons yesterday that the row over Section 28 was about “tolerance”. The Prime Minister meant that repealing it was an important recognition of the rights of gay citizens; the Conservative leader was saying that people should be allowed to disagree with the Government’s view.
But Government and Opposition both acknowledge that this obscure clause of the Local Government Bill has become a symbol of something much wider. It is part of what ministers refer to as New Labour’s “equality agenda”, a key factor in the creation of the Blairite New Britain. When MPs debate the lowering of the gay age of consent today, Jack Straw will argue that they should support it for no other reason than to give homosexuals equality with heterosexuals.
The decision to allow gay men and women into the Army, the recent extension of new race relations laws and the appointment of a Disabled Rights Commission are all part of the drive to promote minority groups. Mo Mowlam has been asked by the Prime Minister to push the issue of “diversity” in the Cabinet, an indication that Downing Street sees it as a priority.
But there is a debate in the Government about what “equality” should mean. Some ministers argue, like Peter Kilfoyle, that it is a distraction which should not be an end in itself. Others make the case that it is counterproductive to extend the protection currently given to women and ethnic minorities to a “rainbow coalition” of interest groups.
The agenda is being driven partly by Europe. Ministers point out that Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty states that nobody should be discriminated against on the grounds of “sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation” - a far broader range of people than is currently protected in Britain. The European Convention on Human Rights, which will become legally binding in Britain in October, may also leave the Government open to legal challenge.
But even without these rules, New Labour would be moving in this direction anyway. “This is about the Government’s values,” one adviser said. “Incorporating the Convention on Human Rights is part of the same movement as lowering the age of consent.”
The Blairites are trying to redefine equality as a pragmatic rather than a political thing. “This is not about the political correctness of the Eighties,” says Margaret Hodge, the equal opportunites minister at the Department for Education and Employment. “It’s our view that economic prosperity depends on making the most of our most valuable resource - people. To do that we must not discriminate against any sector of the work force.”
Gay rights campaigners can prepare for more victories. The Government is going to publish a code of practice for employers discouraging discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. This will mean gay partners getting the same rights to health care, travel benefits or relocation allowances as married couples. Ministers at the Department of Health also believe there is a case to change the law to allow gay partners to register as “next of kin” and the Treasury is examining whether gay people should qualify for inheritance tax relief.
Religious groups are high on the Government’s agenda too. Jack Straw is considering changing the law to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of faith for the first time. At present only Jews and Sikhs, who also qualify as an ethnic group, are protected on such grounds.
A confidential report, commissioned by the Home Office, concluded that “there are significant dangers when law and policy do not address people’s self-understanding”. Disabled people now have their own commission to promote their rights and next week the Government will publish details of its plans to tackle ageism. Ministers admit privately that the “equality agenda” is now so broad that it is difficult to keep a level playing field.
They say the legal situation is rather like the story in which Paddington Bear had to keep cutting bits off the legs of a table in order to even them up. The new race laws will give more rights to ethnic minorities than to women or disabled people, for example, so the Government will have to beef up the protection of these groups.
The plan is to introduce an Equalities Bill in the next session to close the loopholes and restore parity. This could be used to extend existing protection to new sections of society or introduce catch-all changes to British law.
One idea is to change the definition of “spouse” to include gay partners. The overseas example is France, which last year formalised a succession of incremental changes by passing legislation to recognise “civil partnership”. In its most extreme form, the Bill could end up as a sort of Charter of Rights, similar to the one in Canada which sits above and beyond all other laws.
Several members of the Government admit privately that the rows over Section 28 are a red herring. But they say the debate matters because it is part of a broader plan. For Mr Blair, it is just another salvo in the battle of the forces of progress against the forces of conservatism.
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