Equality bill to target male clubs

Men-only clubs could be compelled to ensure equality for women and mothers could gain the legal right to breastfeed in public under new government proposals.

The measures in Tuesday's equality green paper would apply to private members' clubs which already permit women but not to exclusively male organisations.

Landlords would also be required to ensure disabled tenants can use communal areas by, for example, installing ramps where needed.

The rules will eventually be brought together in a Single Equality Bill.

They also include measures to ensure older people are not discriminated against outside the workplace by giving them equal access  to health and financial services.

The consultation aims to focus on any gaps in legislation and to prevent discrimination by making equality law clearer.

Discrimination law is currently contained in nine pieces of legislation and 90 statutory instruments, something the government said "can act as a barrier to fairness".

And the Department for Communities and Local Government predicted that providing "clear practical guidance" and making the law clearer would help prevent discrimination "because everyone will know where they stand".

"Equality law is not about some abstract concept," said communities secretary Ruth Kelly.

"It is about how every one of us is treated at work, as a customer and consumer, and by our public services. Our consultation document aims to provide clearer and more effective protection from discrimination wherever people are faced with it in their everyday lives."

She cited the government's "proud record" on equality and discrimination, including legislation on discrimination at work, duties on the public sector, support for working families and carers and the setting up of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

"For over 40 years, laws have been introduced in a piecemeal fashion and have as a result become overlapping and less clear," Kelly added.

"So it is right we have this review to ensure the laws which govern how people are treated in their everyday lives are as clear and effective as possible."

The Liberal Democrats gave a cautious welcome to the consultation paper.

Equality spokeswoman Lorely Burt said: "We have argued that there is little justification for different treatment for different groups, but unfortunately the government.s haphazard method of law-making has left many gaps.

"Ministers must not use a new harassment offence as cover to reintroduce its controversial incitement to religious hatred measures, which have already been rejected by Parliament.
 
"However, we do support many specific suggestions like those in regard to preventing age discrimination in the provision of goods and services, and a broader duty on public bodies to promote equality."

Jenny Watson, the chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, described it as "an important milestone in the creation of modern legislation to tackle deep rooted inequalities".

"But the much-trailed proposal to tackle discrimination in private members clubs is not the biggest challenge women face today," she added.

And she said the green paper has missed a real opportunity to tackle the pay gap, which has "barely shifted in a generation".