The leader of the Labour Party is considering ways around the Equalities Act to enact discriminatory short lists to force more disabled, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), and black people into parliament.
Jeremy Corbyn was quizzed today during a session of Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, titled Women in the House of Commons after the 2020 election.
“Jeremy, you’re a believer in equality,” asked Tory MP Ben Howlett, “so why isn’t there all black short lists, all disabled shortlists, or all LGBT shortlists in the Labour Party?”
“There have been suggestions about that… put forward. I have some sympathy with that actually,” he responded enthusiastically. Discriminatory selection based on race is currently illegal in the UK.
However, Mr. Corbyn has been considering ways around this. “I think you can deliver it without breaking the Equalities Act by requiring them to be included in a short listing process,” he explained.
He said he had “a lot of sympathy with ensuring that there is a place in the selection processes for people representing LGBT communities, black communit[ies] , or those with disabilities.”
“I think there is a process [needed] to ensure that happens,” he asserted.
There was also an amusing moment at the beginning of the session when Mr. Corbyn apologised for the being a white male, before being shot down by the chair because it was, indeed, his “fault”.
Jeremy Corbyn at the Women & Equalities Committee“Thank you very much for inviting us & I hope you are also going to be taking evidence from women – it seems slightly odd to have four white men sitting in front of you giving evidence. We have 43% of M.P.s who are women, and our aim is for 50%.
We’ve just set up a foundation which will help to promote and train and mentor young women who want to become MPs, in honour of the late Jo Cox ”
The Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn makes his opening statement to the Women & Equalities Committee, points out there are no female witnesses, and inexplicably gets blamed for the fact there are no female witnesses.
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Posted by Nye Bevan News on Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Much of the rest of the session was dedicated to discussing positive discrimination and all women shortlists. The legality of such lists, only widely used by the Labour Party, has been challenged several times and they were found to be illegal in 1997.
However, a Parliamentary report released this year said they are permissible according to the Sex Discrimination Act of 2002, claiming that “the Equality Act 2010 extended the period in which all-women shortlists may be used until 2030”.
Mr. Corbyn agreed that discrimination was the “most effective” way to promote diversity, because “the men in the party have got to realise that they have a part to play”, as well as slamming “macho culture”.
He explained that his party had already started a specific “women’s conference” which is “promoting women in the party” and a “mentoring programme” being operated by Labour’s Women’s Network.
Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, promised similar measures including more “restricted… all women short lists”.
He said “being left with eight white blokes” after the last general election was “hardly a great result” and slammed “the failure of men to take a lead on equality of women and indeed access to all underrepresented groups”.
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