The devolution of race equality legislation

Was asked to produce a response to a debate that was held at the SNP Conference on racial equality (it was a fringe event organised by my work amongst others) and so I thought I would stick up my piece to let you see what you think of it.

Would transferring race equality powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament truly aid in the fight against racism and if so, what would we do differently?

Jamie Cooke
(writing in a personal capacity)

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There is no doubting that Scotland can be a different place to the rest of the UK. We proudly still possess our own legal and education systems, and of course a strongly performing football team! The election of a minority SNP Government whose stated desire is to lead Scotland to independence is a historic first for the country, even if public opinion appears to be against their aim, and the Government is promoting claims for greater Scottish freedom in regards to various powers.

In the context of this, it would be logical for the Scottish Government to push for the devolution of race equality powers to the Scottish Parliament. However, I believe that, whilst there is some merit to the idea, there are also dangers contained within which may prove negative in the wider fight for racial equality.

There is a fairly common perception in Scotland that we are more welcoming than our neighbours to the South. Racism is largely seen to be an English phenomenon, and we do not see it as a Scottish issue. The Attitudes to Discrimination research of 2003 found that 68% of respondents feel that Scotland should do all it can to eliminate discrimination in all its forms. Yet 53% felt that there is “a lot of discrimination” against ethnic minority groups, rising to 63% amongst younger respondents. These indicate that Scotland still has work to do.

Part of this work is due to the fact that the ethnic minority community in Scotland is very small, and largely contained in the West of Scotland. It is possible to live in significant parts of Scotland and not come into contact (or certainly very limited contact) with members of other ethnic communities. Racism in Scotland is in some ways a hidden issue, dwarfed by the historic problem of sectarianism. However it is a growing issue, fuelled in part by response to the dispersal of asylum seekers and the arrival of immigrants from Eastern Europe. (In total, police dealt with 1,022 racist incidents in Lothian and the Borders in the 12 months up to 1 April [2007] - double the amount recorded three years ago, a new report shows. The Scotsman 28/06/2007)

In light of this, would a devolved set-up make sense? Surely it would allow the issue to be explored from a Scottish point of view, with Scottish specific responses? For example, Scotland has attempted to pursue different approaches to immigration than the UK Government under both the current administration and their predecessors, even though it is a reserved issue. Furthermore, there is a feeling that Westminster is heavily influenced by the power of ‘Middle England’ whose interests are not often tied to the cause of racial equality.

However, I think that the devolution of the issue would not be constructive. The issues involved in racial equality are those of human rights, which are universal and not country specific. The implication that human rights vary from country to country by its very nature removes the universality of the rights, and can negate their importance. When we are at the stage of striving to implement the UN Declaration of 1951 across the globe, and to tighten up the EU’s frameworks for human rights, trying to set up Scotland specific guidelines or legislation would be counterproductive.

Furthermore, creating a Scotland specific body runs the very real risk of replicating work and creating needless tensions. Rather than creating new publicly funded bodies which compete with each other for headlines and funding, the best route forward is for the Scottish Government to continue to implement UK wide racial equality legislation within Scotland. With the newly established Equality and Human Rights Commission having a specific Scottish section, it is vital that best practice in Scotland is held up through this so that it can influence the rest of the UK.

If Scotland is finding innovative responses to the problems posed by striving for racial equality, then the cause of racial equality will be best served by these response being shared as widely as possible across Great Britain. Devolution of the issue would merely distract from the work that is being undertaken.