Peers Tell Government To Outlaw The Caste System In The UK

In a vote in the House of Lords peers defeated the government and said that discrimination on the grounds of caste should be outlawed in the UK. Peers backed an Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill amendment to add caste to race discrimination laws.

The government opposed the move, saying it had set up an education programme to tackle caste discrimination. Peers said this was not enough, and the law needed to be changed. The government was defeated by 256 to 153.

The defeat was the second of the day for the government, with peers also challenging the government over the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in promoting a more equal society.

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