The House of Lords voted yesterday (March 4th) to outlaw discrimination against people on the basis of their caste, which, if passed into law, would give nearly one million Hindus in the UK the same legal protection as people who are mistreated on the basis of race, sexuality or gender.
However, the Government has said that it would continue to oppose the amendment to the Enterprise and Regulation Bill, which was tabled by former Bishop of Oxford, Lord Harries of Pentregarth and Lady Thornton, Labour’s equalities spokesman in the Lords.
According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, introducing specific caste-based legislation is not the best way to tackle caste-based prejudice and a spokesperson for the department said that the Government would prefer to rely on education, although it will consider recommendations later this year from a review of caste discrimination by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
There are some 850,000 people affected by the caste system in the UK, according to Lady Thornton, and now that the vote to change equality legislation has been passed by the Lords, she is urging ministers to “get on with implementing it”.
The amendment was passed by 225 votes to 153 votes and was also supported by former Cabinet minister John Gummer, now Lord Deben, and Lord Avebury, a Liberal Democrat peer.
The Government defeat was its second of the day, with peers also challenging it over the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in promoting a more equal society.
Ministers want to remove a general duty on the Commission underlining the need to protect human rights and promote equal opportunity for all in society, but a majority of Lords blocked the move.