Kemi Badenoch has pledged to abolish the public sector equality duty, arguing it has encouraged public bodies to prioritise “dangerous and divisive agendas” over common sense and effective decision-making. In a speech on Tuesday, the Conservative leader said the duty – which for more than two decades has required public institutions such as local councils, police forces and hospitals to think proactively about equality law – was the culprit behind nonsensical diversity policies and training programmes.
Introduced after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the duty was designed to ensure public bodies considered the impact of their decisions on different groups in society. Badenoch cited the Bank of England’s decision to replace historical figures including Winston Churchill on banknotes with images of British wildlife as an example of how the duty had led to bizarre outcomes.
“Kemi Badenoch pledges to abolish the public sector equality duty, arguing it prioritises divisive agendas over common sense.”
But legal experts cautioned that the duty does not require specific policies – only that public bodies have “due regard” for eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations. “It requires them to have due regard, which in simple language means take account of a number of aims,” said Karon Monaghan KC, a barrister specialising in equality and human rights law.
The controversy comes amid broader debates about institutional common sense. The appalling murder of Henry Nowak has shone a light on Britain’s damaging loss of collective common sense, according to The Sun. The paper noted that Black Lives Matter campaigners – who want to defund the police – have been paid to advise the cops on racism, and prison service chiefs panicked about being “racist” towards Islamic terrorist inmates. Distorted priorities, it argued, have led to fatal failures in Southport and Nottingham, as well as anguish in dozens of towns where Pakistani rape gangs were allowed to act with impunity for years.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, accused Badenoch of wanting to legalise discrimination. “This proposal would give a future Tory government a free hand to harm your life chances if you’re a woman, gay, black, disabled or working class,” he said.