‘Britain no longer needs race discrimination laws’
13 March 2015 12:34 AM GMT
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), sparked outrage today for saying Britain should scrap laws on racial discrimination at work because it was no longer a problem.
In a documentary to be screened next week, the head of the anti-mass immigration, anti-European Union party said he would repeal “much of” the legislation introduced a generation ago to stop employers hiring staff on the basis of ethnicity and gender. He said businesses were burdened with regulations and scrapping such laws would allow them to hire British workers — from any ethnic background — rather than immigrants to address the issue of unemployment among young Britons.
In a BBC radio interview, Farage said discrimination legislation had been necessary in the past but “I think we’ve moved way beyond that as a society”. Asked if there should be redress for victims of racial discrimination, he said: “Yes of course, if people are being blatantly racist, but they’re not.
“Let’s stop beating ourselves up and saying we’re a racist country, we’re not. We’ve moved way, way, way beyond that.” He said: “I think employers should be able to employ people on ability... Let’s try please to put the interests of unemployed black and white British youth first.” A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, whose Conservative Party risks losing some of its lawmakers to UKIP in the May general election, said Farage was “wrong”.
In a documentary to be screened next week, the head of the anti-mass immigration, anti-European Union party said he would repeal “much of” the legislation introduced a generation ago to stop employers hiring staff on the basis of ethnicity and gender. He said businesses were burdened with regulations and scrapping such laws would allow them to hire British workers — from any ethnic background — rather than immigrants to address the issue of unemployment among young Britons.
In a BBC radio interview, Farage said discrimination legislation had been necessary in the past but “I think we’ve moved way beyond that as a society”. Asked if there should be redress for victims of racial discrimination, he said: “Yes of course, if people are being blatantly racist, but they’re not.
“Let’s stop beating ourselves up and saying we’re a racist country, we’re not. We’ve moved way, way, way beyond that.” He said: “I think employers should be able to employ people on ability... Let’s try please to put the interests of unemployed black and white British youth first.” A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, whose Conservative Party risks losing some of its lawmakers to UKIP in the May general election, said Farage was “wrong”.
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