Welcome to the fourth issue of Among Equals the quarterly campaign update from The Equality Trust. Please support our campaign by printing a few copies to distribute.
A PDF version of this newsletter is available here to download and print
General Election special
On 6th May we get the chance to vote for a new parliament, but what have the parties been saying about equality? Here are a few key points...
Conservative Party
Twenty nine Conservative Party candidates have signed the Equality Pledge. David Cameron acknowledged in the Hugo Young lecture that "more unequal countries do worse according to every quality of life indicator" and on the Radio 4 Today programme, Michael Gove said that The Spirit Level has influenced Conservative thinking on social policy. In the election build up they have proposed public sector co-operatives and announced their intention to limit public sector pay ratios to 20:1.
Labour Party
Seventy nine Labour Party candidates and seven Labour & Co-operative candidates have signed our Equality Pledge and we recently received a letter from Michael Foster in the Government Equalities Office describing the Pledge as "completely consistent" with their position. Harriet Harman's Equality Act received Royal Assent this month, complete with the socio-economic duty described in the last issue of Among Equals.
Liberal Democrats
Vince Cable and Lynne Featherstone are among 125 Liberal Democrat candidates who have signed the Equality Pledge. Lynne Featherstone said in a letter to a supporter "My colleagues and I are committed to attacking inequality in the UK on all fronts." They have used their election manifesto to criticise Labour and Conservative records on tackling income inequality.
Green Party
Caroline Lucas and 131 other Green Party candidates have signed the Equality Pledge. Kate Pickett was invited to speak at their Spring Conference and also addressed a strategic policy meeting, after which they decided to include evidence about the benefits of equality in their election manifesto and agreed a policy to limit pay ratios in all sectors to 10:1.
Other parties
The Equality Pledge has also been signed by a small number of candidates from the English Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Respect, Scottish Green Party, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Liberal Democrats, UKIP and three independent candidates.
In total more than 390 candidates have added their names so far. Congratulations to the London Equality Group who have successfully signed up more than half of all London candidates.
See the full list of signatories here.
Fairness Test: Open letter to the party leaders
A coalition of charities, including The Equality Trust, One Society, Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo's and the TUC have asked the three main party leaders to commit to a Fairness Test to ensure any tax rises or spending cuts they would introduce in government do not impact unfairly on the poorest in society.
Thanks to all who gave
Huge thanks to everyone who made a donation in response to our recent email fundraising appeal. So far we have raised £1,328 and it's never too late to contribute - you can give online or send us a cheque payable to 'The Equality Trust'. Your donations will be spent on our campaign to ensure that whoever forms the next government lives up to the pre-election rhetoric and implements policies to reduce the income gap.
How to improve life in London (and everywhere...)
Our report on the impact of inequality on London's health, well-being and sustainability was published in March by the London Sustainable Development Commission. Authors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett explain:
"We worked out how much life could improve for Londoners if the incomes of rich and poor were closer together in the UK. Not only is life better for poorer people, even the rich benefit, for example from higher life expectancy, better mental health, and lower crime rates."
Injustice: why social inequality persists
Danny Dorling's new book challenges five new tenets of injustice: elitism is efficient; exclusion is necessary; prejudice is natural; greed is good; and despair is inevitable. Highly recommended.
Your feedback
The Equality Trust celebrated its first birthday in March. How are we doing? What would you like to see us working on? We are always keen to receive your feedback. Because of the volume of messages we receive we are not always able to respond personally, but we read every contribution.
Geoff Holmes, co-ordinator of the North-East of England equality group, tells us their story so far
Here in the North-East, members of the group approach the income inequality issue from a number of perspectives - as campaigners, as health professionals, as specialists in community group support and engagement, as academics and as political and trade union activists - and we have a lot to learn from each other.
We are concentrating on establishing our profile in the region via contact with election candidates and by seeking media coverage on a weekly basis - our letters have been printed in the regional daily newspaper, the educational press and the New Statesman, and two members have been on the Politics Show on BBC1. The latter was a particular learning experience as the limited time to put a message across requires both precision and a competitive approach.
After the election we will consider the living wage and how it could be developed in the region. We also plan to join the debate about the future of Northern Rock as discussion gets under way about its possible exit from public ownership. The takeover of Sunderland-based Arriva by the German state owned Deutsche Bahn did not stimulate the public interest that might have been expected given the uproar over the recent takeover of York-based Cadbury by Kraft. Perhaps there has been an element of public fatigue and a couple of weeks after the election will be the time to enter the Northern Rock fray.
On a personal note, having spent last weekend in Jersey demonstrating in support of public services and public sector workers there, I would get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a Jersey Equality Trust Group established. But that may prove a fantasy. I have also been reading Public Philosophy: Essays on morality in politics by Michael Sandel. He calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life - making it an excellent complement to The Spirit Level.
To contact Geoff email equalitytrustne@btinternet.com
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