A ludicrous article written by the Prime Minister in the Guardian on Monday, claiming that “the Conservatives have become the party of equality,” is so far-fetched as to appear to be a bad April Fools’ joke come early. David Cameron’s particular brand of Conservatism, implemented with even greater verve and vigour since May this year, has created the most unequal society I have seen in my lifetime. And yet his outlandish assertions seem to have been allowed to pass under the radar with little more than a whisper of discontent.
The Prime Minister’s self-congratulation stems from the thin claim that it is the Conservatives who are pushing for better protections and fairer treatment for aspiring young people from black and ethnic minority communities, for same-sex couples and for Muslims vulnerable to Islamophobic attacks. Yet it is entirely misleading to suggest that such measures are in any way novelty or can be claimed as the Conservatives’ own, and as a Labour Member of the European Parliament, I not prepared to let them get away with it. It was core equality legislation introduced by the European Union in 1999 which for the first time gave the European community a specific and legal base upon which to take “appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.” And it is these very communities that have been hit hardest by coalition and Conservative government action since 2010.
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