Government plans to abolish the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and set up a new multi-equality body may push the cause of anti-racism backwards unless significant amendments are made to the Equality Bill, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, warned today. He called on Londoners from black and ethnic minority communities to make their voices hear by raising concerns to MPs who will be voting on the Bill next week.

The new multi-equality body - the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR) – is a key proposal within the Equality Bill, which returns to the House of the Commons for a second reading on 21 November 2005. However, current proposals for this organisation offer no security of black and ethnic minority representation and may translate into diminished funds for race relations work.

The Mayor of London is calling on MPs to amend the Equality Bill to ensure that the new Commission has clear mechanisms to ensure black and ethnic minority representation. Disabled people have successfully lobbied for a Disabled Commissioner and a Disability Committee at the CEHR. The GLA is calling for the extension of this provision to race and other equality strands.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: “Racism is still very real in the UK. The BNP vote grew eight-fold at the last general election. Given this, it is deeply disconcerting that the Government is seeking to establish a new Commission that in its current form offers Black, Asian and ethnic minorities a poorer deal than that on offer at the existing CRE.

“Those directly affected by discrimination and inequalities should be able to speak for themselves. There should be an explicit requirement that there be proper representation. As Lord Ouseley has pointed out, the current proposals could end up creating an equality commission where all the Commissioners are white men. This is not acceptable.

The Mayor is calling for:

• A guarantee that a number of CEHR Commissioners will be from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities.
• A race committee at the CEHR.
• Similar measures to be introduced for other equality strands (gender, religion, sexual orientation, age).

The GLA is also concerned about the funding on offer for the new CEHR. Whereas CRE has an annual budget of £20 million, the CEHR will have an annual budget of £70 million to cover 6 equality strands. Only funds for disability discrimination will be ring-fenced. The danger is that the remaining equality strands will spend a considerable amount of time competing with each other for limited resources.

The Commission will also have lower powers than the CRE to combat racism: the ‘duty’ currently placed on the CRE to consider all cases of alleged race discrimination that come before it is weakened.

The Equality Bill is also weakened by an absence of detail on how the CEHR will have a regional presence. The GLA are calling for a separate London Committee in recognition of London’s diversity. The Commission may also be moved out of London. London is not one of the world’s most diverse cities and where the largest and diverse black and ethnic minority ethnic populations in Britain reside, but it is also the seat of national government and policy making. Moving the CEHR out of London – in addition to abolishing the CRE and other weaknesses set out here – will be a major weakening of the mechanisms to challenge and promote equality.

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