« Standing for what? – Main – "Peerless record of feckless underachievements" »

Today sees the start of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (echr). The new Commission brings together the 3 previous rights-based commissions — the drc, eoc and cre — and has a mandate to champion equality and human rights for all. Information on the new Commission can be found at its website — equalityhumanrights.com — but this is what it is seeking to achieve:

[T]o eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.

I am pleased and proud to say that I am sitting in the new office of the Commission, and am very excited about the prospect of a single equality and human rights organisation in this country. Without doubt, there have been some difficulties in the setting up of the echr, and one or two questions about the chair, Trevor Phillips. But sitting here, in an atmosphere of some excitement as people move in and turn their attention to the work in hand, I believe the organisation will come to achieve and work towards a fairer and more respectful society, where people are more confident in their diversity.

Update: photos from the first day can be seen here.

Tags — Society