The Equality Trust manifestos: For a Fairer UK
15 March 2018
‘The UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world’ says the March 2018 Equality Trust manifesto.
‘The UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world’ says the March 2018 Equality Trust manifesto.
‘Banks have to check applicants’ immigration status before allowing them to open a bank account’.
This is according to the February 2018 briefing (pdf) from Global Justice Now on the hostile environment for immigrants.
The briefing finds:
The government is preventing people from accessing safe and secure housing by forcing landlords to carry out the work of immigration officers.
NHS staff are also being forced to demand upfront payment for treatment from people who cannot prove their immigration status
People in the UK without at least six months leave to remain cannot apply for a driving licence
Read the full report (pdf).
‘The impact of changes to direct taxes and benefits is to reduce the income of
Bangladeshi households by around £4,400 per year on average’.
Four months after releasing their 2017 interim report, the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their final cumulative impact assessment (pdf), in March 2018.
The report exposes how much individuals and households are expected to gain or lose, and how many adults and children will fall below an adequate standard of living, as a result of recent changes to taxes and social security.
The report finds:
Negative impacts are particularly large for households with more disabled members, and individuals with more severe disabilities, as well as for lone parents on low incomes
For some family types, these losses represent over 13% of average net income
At an individual level, women lose on average considerably more from changes to direct taxes and benefits than men
Lone parents in the bottom fifth of the household income distribution lose around 25% of their net income, on average
Around 1.5 million more children are forecast to be living in households below the relative poverty line as a result of the reforms.
EDF and a number of our members have contributed to the development of this important research.
Read the full report (pdf).
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their response to the consultation on the changes to teaching of sex and relationship education, and PSHE, in February 2018.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission recommends:
Schools should take a rights-based approach to the whole-school environment, by addressing all subjects from the perspective of ensuring respect for individuals’ human rights
The Department for Education should improve training and guidance for teachers so that they can more comprehensively consider the needs of all pupils
When faced with requests to withdraw, schools should ask parents to state in writing their reasons for wishing to withdraw their child.
Read the full response.
Our February 2018 report, Shared Prosperity, Shared Rights, makes the case for an effective replacement of EU funding that supports equality and human rights.
Human rights belong to everyone. We all have rights regardless of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age, income, gender, country of birth or belief.
This is from the February 2018 report from the Scottish Human Rights Commission on building a human rights culture in Scotland.
The research tested and identified the impact of different types of messages on people’s attitudes towards human rights
The report finds:
Demographic groups of women and 16-24 year olds were most likely to become more supportive and engaged with human rights when exposed to key human rights messages
When talking about human rights, organisations involved in human rights secured the greatest levels of trust amongst all those surveyed, with 58% of participants saying they would trust them a great deal or fair amount.
This compares to 17% for a famous singer, actor, sportsperson or musician who is well known for caring about human rights
Different spokespeople affected the impact of messages. For example across all those surveyed, a disability rights campaigner has more impact than the Chair of the National Human Rights Institution when discussing disability rights.
Read the full report (pdf).
‘Asylum-seeking children in several EU Member States had no or limited access to education’, says a February 2019 report (pdf) from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Building on the findings of their October 2016 report (pdf), this report presents the most pressing fundamental rights concerns between October 2016 and December 2017.
The report finds:
Legal and practical obstacles to accessing legal aid, information and interpretation existed in all EU Member States covered
Sexual and gender-based violence in reception centres remains an issue in some EU Member States
Police and border guards reportedly ill-treated migrants, particularly on the Western Balkan route, and in Spain in certain locations.
Read the full report (pdf).
Liberty have launched a February 2018 campaign to end indefinite immigration detention, post-Brexit.
‘There are no quick fix solutions. The enactment of new legislation to protect human rights post Brexit is probably best left for after Brexit, allowing for broader consultation and reflection’.
This is according to Professor Mark Elliott who published a February 2019 article exploring how human rights should be protected in the future post Brexit.
Read the full article.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights call for written submissions on the reform of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Submissions must be made by 2 March 2018.