Harriet Harman: "Inequality and discrimination still persist"

by Kate Pritchard - Friday, 27th June 2008 - (1) comment

Equality minister Harriet Harman plans to create a “fairer society” by allowing firms to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates. But what do entrepreneurs think of the new Equality Bill?

“It’s fantastic to see a government prepared to take this bull by its horns,” says Margaret Heffernan, who has run software and media firms in the UK and the States. “Promoting positive discrimination makes sense.”

But she warns that employers will have to show “real bottle” under the new bill. “They must not let disappointed pale, male candidates bully them into taking second best,” she says.

She reckons it will also be difficult for bosses to assess candidates objectively. “There's the famous case of the German orchestra that always hired male players -- until auditions were held behind screens! Only when assessing the work output alone were any women hired.

"The sad reality is that people hire others like themselves. It takes a lot of training and determination to stop that.

“Changing the numbers is the beginning – not the end – of the challenge. Let’s face it:
tackling discrimination in the City will take nerves of steel.”

The proposed Equality Bill – due later this year – will be adopted in England, Wales and Scotland. Harman believes it will help Britain “compete in the global economy”.

“Just as schools have to publish exam results for parents to see, I want employers to report on key equality issues such as gender pay for employees to see.”

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1 Comments

June 29, 2008 2:50pm
Lee Taylor Says:

After another disastrous week of those who I supposedly employed to cover me taking more time off than is legally allowed due to child illness yet again, I really needed to see this drivel from someone who got where she is due to positive discrimination and has her snout firmly in the trough leeching us taxpayer for tens, if not hundreds of thousands each year so she can lecture and and buy the votes of yet another groupo of society with other peoples money. The Government have already been practising this kind of "positive" discrimination for years with Routine Cancer Screening (none for men), Criminal Sentencing (lesser sentences for women for the same crime, in Family Courts (banging up men who want to see their families for basic "unauthorised" contact when the courts have sorted nothing for months yet women who break court orders face no recourse) and, of course, allowing Business Link, funded by tax from male and females, to run courses aimed at women only. You couldnt make it up!