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Minister warns equality drive will cost votes
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent01.07.09
Cabinet minister John Denham today warned that Harriet Harman's equalities campaign risks alienating middle-class voters.
Championing a "traditional, egalitarian view of society" could lose Labour the backing of voters who are crucial for it to win a fourth term in office, the Communities Secretary argued.
"If you think you are in the middle, policies and language aimed at 'the poor' leave you out," he was due to say in a speech to the Left-wing Fabian Society think tank today. "And if you are in the middle, you are more likely to be concerned about whether 'the top' is doing better than you, than you are about 'the bottom'."
Labour's Deputy Leader Ms Harman, who is also Commons Leader, is pushing the Equality Bill which will place a duty on town halls and other public bodies to act to close the social gap in Britain.
Local education authorities could be expected to encourage pupils from more deprived backgrounds to apply for good schools outside their local area. This could lead to children from wealthier areas missing out on places in their local school. Other measures include:
Regional development agencies could be forced to give more grants to deprived areas.
Men applying for jobs could lose out to equally qualified women. White people could similarly miss out to ethnic minority candidates.
Companies having to carry out "gender pay" audits in a bid to tackle salary differential between men and women.
Public bodies being able to favour firms with a more diversified workforce.
Mr Denham, the MP for Southampton Itchen, has warned Labour to reach out beyond its core support. "The Left needs to stop holding up egalitarianism as the ideal," he was due to say. "If we continue to believe that the egalitarian approach is really the right one, and we, somehow, have to find more cunning ways of getting there, we will fail."
Reader views (4)
The political correct Labour party and government has cause the downfall of this country and society. FACT.
- Joe, Swanley Kent
"risks alienating middle-class voters"
Why would Labour worry about that? There aren't any middle classes left that would vote them, surely?
- Bob, Cheam
Shame they view everything as votes rather than the right thing to do.
Equality is a noble cause if handled correctly and for the right reasons and should not be used to make headlines rather than improve society. As a man I agree females should have equal right but only if applied correctly not forcing man against women as has happened in the race equality legislation. Equality cuts all ways and should have NO loosers.
- Jerry, Chiswick
The penny is dropping very slowly at labour HQ. Too slowly to help at the next election.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants
