Britain plans to introduce bill against discrimination

The British government plans to introduce a powerful new anti-discrimination bill to usher in the biggest overhaul of the equality legislation in four decades. The proposed legislation, requiring employees to be treated fairly, would replace over 100 acts, codes and directives introduced since the sixties to outline prejudice based on race, faith, sex and sexuality. Trevor Phillips, chairman of the equality and human rights commission, claimed that the new system would be easier. He told Sunday Telegraph "I am examining proposals that could reduce the number of alleged breaches that go to full employment tribunal hearings, resented by businesses as a waste of time and money." He said "even the most well-intentioned businesses, and there are an awful lot of them, don't know when they've complied with the existing laws. It's almost impossible unless you have vast armies of bureaucrats." The bill will include measures to prevent mixed-sex clubs, such as golf clubs, from holding "ladies' days" and a right, enshrined in law, for mothers to breastfeed their babies in public.
10 Mar 2008, 0000 hrs IST , PTITimes of India