The fight is not over: 50 years of fighting for equality and still more to do

It is fitting that in the year the Young Fabians celebrates its 50th anniversary, that we hold our first ever ‘Equalities Month’. Issues of equality have been of prime concern to Fabians, young and ‘older’, throughout the society’s history; as seen in the Fabian Equality Project and reflected in the 2010 Young Fabian members survey, where equalities policy was amongst the top five interests of today’s young thinkers on the left.

Numerous legislative changes and cultural shifts, have taken place in the last 50 years which have moved towards (though not realised) an equalisation of experiences of life in Britain. I want to look all the way back though to two events in 1960 – the year the Young Fabians were founded – with impact both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed around the world.

1960 brought the death of tireless activist, Sylvia Pankhurst. The Pankhurst family (Fabianism was part of their DNA too, you know), as leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, had international reach and their determination and work is felt today, and will be forever. Whilst women are free to participate in the electoral process, we still see a deficit in involvement in political, business and civic leadership. In crude numbers, we’re talking 32% of board seats on public bodies occupied by women, just 12% on FTSE 100 boards, and 20% of seats in the Commons and Lords. (The only parliamentary figure vaguely representative is the 47% of the Welsh Assembly that are female.) Whilst these figures must change, we shouldn’t dismiss improvement – which has happened, and is happening, as a result of action by the Labour Party and this Labour Government.

Fifty years ago, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird was first published. Ahead of civil rights legislation in the United States, the story took as its main theme racial inequality and injustice. It has been a focus of classroom study from the early 60s to the present day and in 2006 Britain’s librarians named it as the one book everyone should read. For me, Lee’s skill in using a child narrator – rather than her lawyer father, Atticus Finch – exposes the simple views and flawed arguments of prejudiced individuals and an unequal society. Despite the election, to increasingly significant positions, of BNP politicians in the last couple of years, Britain has moved on, not least due to the work of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and its predecessor. But we as Young Fabians should take responsibility for preventing BNP ideas further permeating our society.

So, March 2010 is marked by the Young Fabians as Equalities Month. It is likely to be the last full month of this parliament. A month that will see the launch of Young Fabian Women, a new section of the society aimed at encouraging young women to become active in politics. And royal assent should be given to a single Equality Act.

We know these issues are important to Young Fabians, the wider labour movement, and Britain as a whole. And we shouldn’t forget – as we approach the general election – the threat that the right poses to the causes fought so passionately and adeptly by the Pankhurst family, Harper Lee, and millions of other campaigners for equality ever since.