Business of the House

Warinder Juss Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on kicking off the Hillbilly 10k�I hope there was not the traditional Scottish weather when she was doing that�and I congratulate Lorna on her immense fundraising efforts. My hon. Friend is right that we need to continue to do more to fight cancer, promote research and provide support so that we can stop people unnecessarily dying of cancer so young.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House has already mentioned the Equality Act 2010. Back in 2013, Parliament legislated to require a Minister of the Crown to

�amend this section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race�.

However, five years later the Government announced that they would not implement that legislation, arguing that caste discrimination can be discrimination based on ethnic origins. Does the Leader of the House agree that caste discrimination is as bad as discrimination based on colour, nationality, or ethnic or national origins, and will she agree to a debate in the House on the implementation of section 9(5) of the Equality Act, so that caste discrimination is specified as a form of race discrimination?

[Lucy Powell]

I appreciate that caste discrimination can be incredibly damaging and pernicious. We take our obligations under the Equality Act very seriously indeed, and I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets an update on that.