Britain asked to act as a fair and cohesive society

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Correspondent

14 October, 2010

This British Report points out?'Public thinks that both racial and religious prejudice are on the increase'. 'Immigration paradox' remains: about three quarters of the public say that they are concerned about the scale of immigration.

HINDUS HAVE urged United Kingdom (UK) to work on inequalities which still remained entrenched and remove barriers to fairness, in view of comprehensive landmark 700-page report “How fair is Britain?” released by Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) of Britain on October 11.

Renowned Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it appeared that UK had a long way to go to be a more fairer and cohesive society, where currently many doors were eternally shut for some.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that although now an ethnically and religiously diverse country, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland still seemed to be struggling with topics of multiculturalism, immigration, equality and fairness.

This British Report points out—“Public thinks that both racial and religious prejudice are on the increase”. ‘Immigration paradox’ remains: about three quarters of the public say that they are concerned about the scale of immigration at a national level.
EHRC Chair, Trevor Phillips, said: “For some, the gateways to opportunity appear permanently closed, no matter how hard they try; whilst others seems to have been issued with an ‘access all areas’ pass at birth. Recession, demographic change and new technology all threaten to deepen the fault lines between insiders and outsiders.”

Reviewing the state of social justice in Britain, the Report says: Men and women from the highest social class can expect to live up to seven years longer, on average, than those from lower socio-economic groups. Girls and women tend to be concentrated in some courses which tend to lead to relatively poorly-rewarded jobs. The mean gender pay gap for women and men working full-time in 2009 was 16.4 per cent; and progress today appears to be grinding to a halt. Women aged 40 earn on average 27 per cent less than men of the same age.

Fifty per cent of disabled adults are in work, compared to 79 per cent of non-disabled adults. Two-thirds of lesbian, gay and transgender secondary students report that they have been victims of often severe bullying (17 per cent of those bullied reported having received death threats). The number of women prisoners has nearly doubled since 1995 in England and Wales, and since 2000 in Scotland. On average, five times more Black people than White people are imprisoned in England and Wales.

Women represent less than a quarter of Westminster MPs and barely three in 10 councilors in England. Four per cent of Westminster MPs are from an ethnic minority background.

EHRC, a statutory body, is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights. Margaret Prosser is Deputy Chair while Neil Kinghan is the Director-General. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State of UK, while David Cameron is the Prime Minister.