The Equality Trust / The Spirit Level cited in House of Lords (again!)

Submitted by Bill Kerry on 18 January 2010

The Equality Bill has now moved to the Committee stage in the House of Lords. The socio-economic duty was debated on 11th January and is reported here in Hansard.

We are pleased to confirm that the duty was retained and that plenty of Lords referenced both The Spirit Level and/or the briefings which The Equality Trust provided to every single Peer.

Baroness Royall commented: "A number of noble Lords referred on Second Reading to the work of the Equality Trust, which was summarised in a book, The Spirit Level, much quoted in this Chamber. The gist of the authors' impressive research is that societies that are more equal in terms of income distribution tend to be better societies in every way-richer, healthier, happier, more cohesive, less prone to violent crime and so on. I concur with that analysis, which is why we need the socio-economic duty."