Typical broad-minded and unbiased reporting of the new Equalities Bill on the front page of today's Daily Mail and Daily Express. The Express headline reads: "White men face jobs ban. New law favours ethnics and women." (Ethnics? Erm... I don't think you're actually meant to say that, are you?)
Anyway, it's not true. The new Bill will mean that a firm will be able to choose a woman over a man of equal ability - or vice versa - without falling foul of discrimination laws. If a managing director decides he/ she needs more women at board level, or if a headteacher decides that the school needs more male teachers, they'll be able to use positive discrimination to redress the imbalance. The Bill will also introduce compulsory pay audits for large firms and public bodies, to try to reduce the gender pay gap; something on which the unions have been campaigning for a long time. And age discrimination will be banned but Club 18-30 won't. Well that's a relief.
