The Equality Bill: the facts

On the 27 April 2009, the Government published its long-awaited Equality Bill. Including explanatory notes, the Bill was 540 pages long and contained 205 clauses and 28 schedules.

My friend and colleague Ghiyas Somra in his role as Communications Manager at BRAP has put together a fact sheet about the Bill and can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

Further information about the Bill can be found at the Government’s Equalities Office website or by clicking here.

Christians versus Humanists: follow-up to the BHA report

A few weeks ago I posted about the report that the British Humanist Association (BHA) commissioned BRAP to research (click here). Below is an article by Damian Thompson that appeared in The Telegraph on the 30th April 2009 where he strongly criticises not only the report but also the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for funding it.

The article is entitled, ‘Christians: this is how your taxes are being spent in the middle of a recession’:

New Report: “The ‘Religion or Belief’ Equality Strand in Law and Policy: Current Implications for Equalities & Human Rights”

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today published a new report entitled, “The ‘Religion or Belief’ Equality Strand in Law and Policy: Current Implications for Equalities & Human Rights”.

The BHA commissioned BRAP to research the report. In my role as Director of Policy & Research at BRAP I wrote much of section 4.0 ‘Demography’. In relation to this section, the Executive Summary states:

The notion that census data, as currently collected, can accurately reveal the religious attitudes of contemporary Britain is highly problematic. The nature of the question used – ‘What is your religion?’ – gives an inaccurate picture of the religious or non-religious beliefs of census respondents. And yet the data is repeatedly used to underpin policy making. This makes it much more than simply an ‘academic’ issue. The direct use of census data to inform government policy has implications for the inclusiveness of policy on the ‘religion or belief’ strand as a whole. A debate regarding future questions on ‘religion or belief’ in the census to inform future policy is a pressing need.

The read the findings in their entirety, you can download a pdf version of the full report here.

Anti-Social Housing: ‘Right to Buy’ and Thatcher’s Legacy

Radio 4’s ‘Analysis: Anti-Social housing’ broadcast on Thursday 26th February 2009 explored the role, function and challenges facing the provision of social housing in today’s Britain. Much of the focus was on the Aylesbury council estate in Walworth, south London where Tony Blair, when Labour came to power in 1997, pledged to defeat poverty and social exclusion (a slide show of images from the Aylesbury Estate can be viewed here).

Central to this was the research undertaken by Tamsie Thomson from the Royal Institute of British Architects who has made an in depth study of the estate:

This estate was built in the mid 1960s in response to acute housing need and it had some of the most dilapidated housing in London. It was the densest ward in the densest borough in the densest city in England.

Birmingham City Council Call for Boycott Action on Israel (Hooray…!!!)

Well done to all concerned…!!!

PRESS RELEASE: Birmingham Councillors call for boycott action on Israel

Politicians from all four parties on Birmingham City Council have called on the Council leadership to pursue a policy of instituting sanctions against Israel.

The call, for a boycott of Israeli goods and services, was initiated by Cllr Salma Yaqoob, Leader of the RESPECT Party, and supported by Tariq Khan (Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group), Cllr Tahir Ali (Labour) and Cllr James Hutchings (Conservative).