Latest news with #socioeconomicduty
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
KEMI BADENOCH: Labour's new equality law is a bureaucratic nightmare dressed up as progress
You've probably never heard of the so-called 'socio-economic duty', and nor should you have. It's a left-over clause from the Equality Act passed by Labour in 2010, which was so obviously misguided that we Conservatives blocked it from being enacted for 14 years. The clause demands that when local and public bodies make a decision, they must assess whether it increases or decreases inequality resulting from socio-economic disadvantage. It is ideological dross. Worse than that, it threatens to submerge the nation in a bureaucratic nightmare dressed up as progress. How so? It means your council obsessing over 'impact assessments' while local roads decay, schools spending money on 'equality training' instead of textbooks, government departments taking more time analysing postcodes than fixing real problems. When Labour came up with 'socio-economic duty' during its last period in government, its own ministers called it 'socialism in one clause'. They weren't joking. We know it's bad policy because it's already been enacted in Scotland and Wales. The results were exactly what you'd expect: More red tape and no constructive results. The Equality and Human Rights Commission reviewed its effectiveness north of the border and couldn't find a single tangible benefit. But this Labour government doesn't care. Looking busy matters more to it than being effective. The 'socio-economic duty' clause ticks all the boxes – literally! It gives civil servants and consultants endless forms to fill in, reports to write and new jobs in such voguish fields as 'class-equity strategy'. Your taxes will fund more consultants, more HR seminars, more circular discussions about 'lived experience' – all while frontline services are stretched to the limit. When I was Equalities Minister, I fought this sort of nonsense every day. When I tried to protect women's spaces by legislating to enforce female-only toilets, I was told by civil servants that doing so might be 'hostile' to other groups. Time and again, I found common-sense decisions were being held up by an impact assessment drawn up by a diversity officer who'd never set foot in a women's shelter. The 'socio-economic duty' is more of the same. It will paralyse our public services and hand more power to unaccountable quangos. The state needs to do less, and do it better. We need schools pushing children to achieve, not consulting on how 'class background' affects their homework. We need doctors focused on saving lives, not paperwork. We need police stopping criminals, not second-guessing who might be offended. But this government is bereft of ideas. With the economy nose-diving due to a toxic cocktail of tax rises and billions in bungs to the public sector, it is busying itself with ideological rubbish nobody asked for. Giving away British territory in the Chagos Islands while paying £30billion for the privilege. Decriminalising abortion and euthanasia. And changing its mind about how many pensioners to deprive of their winter fuel allowance. Labour has four more years to dig up every bad idea it has had and force it through Parliament. I will keep calling it out. Loudly, clearly, and without apology – because Britain deserves better than this.
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Kemi Badenoch dismisses Labour plans to introduce new equality law as 'ideological dross' and says public sector could be heading for paralysis
Labour will paralyse public services and hand more power to unaccountable quangos under plans to introduce an equality law, Kemi Badenoch warns in the Mail today. From next year, the Government will force public authorities to give 'due regard' to disparities in income and socio-economic status when making decisions. This 'socio-economic duty' – part of the 2010 Equality Act that has yet to be enacted – could enable public bodies to make spending decisions that penalise middle-class areas. Writing in the Mail, the Tory leader brands the plan 'ideological dross' that could submerge Britain into a 'bureaucratic nightmare'. She warns: 'It means your council obsessing over 'impact assessments' while local roads decay, schools spending money on 'equality training' instead of textbooks, government departments taking more time analysing postcodes than fixing real problems.' She says the Tories blocked the duty for 14 years as it was 'obviously misguided', and accuses Labour of running out of ideas and doing things 'nobody asked for'. It will 'paralyse public services and hand more power to unaccountable quangos', she says. Labour is consulting on how to implement the duty, having pledged to roll it out in its manifesto. The Act was pushed through by the previous Labour government, but the section on socio-economic duty was vetoed by the Tories after the 2010 election. Theresa May, then home secretary, announced the scrapping of the duty, and said the government would fight inequality 'by treating people as individuals rather than labelling them in groups'. Council bosses fear they could be taken to court under the duty if disadvantaged groups claim officials haven't paid attention to their needs, The Times reported. A Government spokesman said the duty was 'part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. This will ensure public bodies consider how their decisions might help reduce inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. Public bodies can ensure their views are heard by engaging with our call for evidence, which is currently live'.
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ministers face calls to drop 'crazy' changes to equality laws 'that will penalise middle classes'
Ministers were last night urged to drop 'crazy' changes to equality laws that could allow councils and public services to discriminate against the middle classes. Senior Tories called on the Government to abandon plans to introduce a new 'socio-economic duty' which could force authorities to favour the poor. The idea – dubbed 'socialism in one clause' – has been a Labour rallying point for years. The last Labour government tried to introduce a similar proposal but it was blocked by the incoming Coalition administration in 2010. Now ministers have quietly slipped out a consultation on introducing the change across the country. Critics claim the proposal would skew public services towards deprived areas at the expense of the middle classes. For example, outstanding schools could be ordered to seek out more applications from pupils in deprived communities, bus routes could be focused on poorer areas, police patrols could be targeted at sink estates and NHS services could be diverted to prioritise conditions suffered disproportionately by the worst off. There are fears it could lead to more cases such as the example highlighted by The Mail on Sunday in which the mother of an eight-year-old boy was denied vital treatment by the NHS as he attends a private school. Tory frontbencher Richard Holden urged the Government to abandon the plan and focus on improving services, saying: 'Labour believe aspiration, hard work and achievement are dirty words. This crazy policy is the latest in Sir Keir Starmer 's ideological attack on people who've worked hard and play by the rules.' Tory education spokesman Neil O'Brien described the plan as a 'class war law' which he said would 'divide Middle England and punish families who work hard and aren't on benefits'. But Labour sources dismissed the warnings as 'desperate' and claimed some Conservative-led councils have asked for the change. A source said: 'The Tories used to care about levelling up the neglected parts of this country and their public services – which this socio-economic duty is designed to improve.' The Equality Act was pushed through by Harriet Harman in one of the final acts by the last Labour government. But the party ran out of time to introduce the socio-economic duty and it was scrapped by the incoming Conservative-led government. Labour revived the idea last year. Its manifesto said the party would extend equality laws covering race, sex, age and disability to add 'the inequality of social class'. The new consultation on the change states that public bodies must give 'due regard to how their decisions might help to reduce inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage'. Government sources highlighted a scheme in which Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service scrapped its requirement for budding firefighters to have a driving licence as part of a diversity drive.
