Equal Footing

Once widely seen as a leader on equality, Britain has, according to this Fabian Society pamphlet, lost much of that standing in recent years. The author argues that although the current Conservative government speaks about equalities more than ever, its rhetoric serves to set social groups against one another.

Anneliese Dodds MP challenges a right-leaning outlook that treats fairness as a fixed quantity. On this view, opening doors for one group means someone else must lose out, and politics is better served by stirring up division than by widening opportunity. Dodds rejects this reasoning.

Dodds, who would become the UK's first Secretary of State for Women and Equalities should Labour win power, makes the case that equality is central to sustainable economic growth. Removing barriers to opportunity, she contends, strengthens the economy rather than weakening it.