Equality Bill [Lords]

I welcome the Bill. I, too, am proud of the work of Labour Governments over 30 years and, as we heard, of even earlier decades, in bringing forward legislation to promote and ensure equality and diversity. I also welcome the establishment of the commission for equality and human rights, which I naturally hope will be based in Manchester, or even nearby Salford. [Interruption.] Worsley would be good. We have heard arguments for London, so it is worth making a few points about Manchester’s case. The Equal Opportunities Commission has obviously long flourished in Manchester. I hope that we can get away from believing that we can work on policy only here in the metropolis. For our party conferences and policy making we move around the country, and, of course, all the groups that need to be consulted on issues also live in Greater Manchester, so I hope that people will not be too swayed or diverted by arguments in favour of London as a location. The Equal Opportunities Commission tells us that achieving equality for men and women requires taking account of more than gender, and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar (Vera Baird) said earlier that among older people, people with a disability and Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups, the women are more likely to be poor and excluded than men, and that is a key fact. But we also know that white working-class boys perform less well in their standard assessment tests and GCSEs than white working-class girls, and boys from other ethnic backgrounds. When I was responsible for an education service in local government I was concerned about such statistics. I felt that too little was known and too little work was being done on such issues. That is why it is welcome that the Bill introduces the equalities review and the discrimination law review.