A message from the London Equality Group

Submitted by Kathryn Busby on 17 December 2009

Guest post from Peter Robbins

I’ve been asked to help coordinate the new London Equality Group which is affiliated to The Equality Trust.

The process of forming local groups has been going on for some months now. Meetings have been taking place in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Swansea and Sheffield and a group of London supporters has just had its second meeting. The Sheffield group now has a website up and running and we hope to follow with one of our own very soon.

The focus of our attention has been on how we might get the message of The Spirit Level across at the upcoming local and general election. References to the book are being made everywhere including in some unlikely places. You may have heard that in David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ speech in last month he said that more equal societies were happier societies and achieving such a society would be one of his aims.

A fairer society can not be brought about simply by raising inheritance tax thresholds and threatening to cut benefits if people don’t take any job going. To try to help voters understand the issues and know which of their candidates are committed to greater income equality, the London Group is developing an Equality Pledge which we will ask all election candidates to sign.

We have masses of work to do to make contact with and give talks to other like-minded organisations and to press the debate on equality through the local and national media. If you would like to help with this work or come to our January meeting please send me an email or contact Kathryn in The Equality Trust office.