‘Appalling’ and ‘frightening’ Reform ‘ready to legalise discrimination’ by scrapping Equality Act

Disabled activists have accused Reform UK of readying itself to “legalise discrimination”, after its new equalities “shadow minister” said the party would repeal the Equality Act on its first day in government.

The pledge came from Suella Braverman (pictured), the former Conservative home secretary, who defected to Reform UK last month, as she was appointed as the party’s “shadow minister” for education, skills and equalities.

And while the party later claimed to Disability News Service (DNS) that it would introduce a “Workplace Fairness Act” to replace the Equality Act, it initially appeared unaware that the existing legislation also protects minority groups from discrimination across many other areas, including transport, shops, cinemas, and public services such as healthcare and education.

It later claimed that all these other areas would be covered by another new act, further adding to the confusion around Braverman’s pledge.

She was one of four Reform UK appointments announced by party leader Nigel Farage on Tuesday, who he claimed were part of a new “shadow cabinet”, even though the Conservatives are the official opposition and his party only has 8 MPs.

She told the party event: “So, do you know what a Reform government will do?

“Well, on day one we will get rid of the equalities department, we will scrap the equalities minister – yep, I’m doing myself out of a job – and we will repeal the Equality Act, because we are going to work to build a country defined by meritocracy not tokenism, personal responsibility not victimhood, excellence not mediocrity, and unity not division.”

As she finished, Farage confirmed that her comments were party policy, telling the event that “there was no room for any confusion there, was there!”

The “equalities department” appears to refer to the government’s Office for Equality and Opportunity and scrapping that department would likely mean also scrapping the Disability Unit, the Race Equality Unit, and the Women and Equalities Unit.

Only minutes earlier, Braverman had claimed Britain was “being ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion [DEI]”, which she said had “become less about diversity and more about conforming to left-wing ideology, less about equality and more about prejudice against white people, less about inclusion and more about exclusion of those who dare to challenge the dogma”.

Braverman’s announcement is just the latest warning shot that demonstrates how a future Reform UK government would impact disabled people, and other minorities.

Last September, Farage confirmed that his party would cut support for many claimants of disability benefits if it won power at the next general election, with the cuts focusing on those he claimed did not “genuinely deserve help”.

And the day after Braverman’s speech, the party’s new “shadow chancellor”, Robert Jenrick, made a series of inaccurate claims about the “exploding welfare bill” in a speech (watch from 23.30 minutes), and promised to “defuse the benefits bomb set to bankrupt Britain”.

He claimed the last Conservative government had let social security spending “completely spiral out of control”, when he should have been aware that the proportion of GDP spent on social security is roughly stable and has been for years and could even fall slightly in the years ahead.

He made it clear that a Reform UK government would slash social security support for neurodivergent people and those experiencing mental distress and mental ill-health.

Disabled people’s organisations and grassroots groups this week united in opposition to Braverman’s pledge to scrap the Equality Act.

Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said: “We are appalled by the Reform party proposal to repeal the Equality Act 2010.

“This would be a direct assault on the fundamental rights of 16 million disabled people and other members of our society, who the act protects from daily discrimination.

“The Equality Act is the only thing standing between disabled people and a ‘no dogs’ sign at a restaurant, an employer who refuses to provide adjustments, and public bodies such as local authorities, who are required to consider the impact of their decisions on those protected by the law.

“By framing civil rights as ‘victimhood’, Reform UK is signalling that disabled people should be forced back into the margins of society.

“Instead of scrapping the very protections we fought for, they need to be robustly enforced.

“A society that abandons its legal duty to be accessible is not a meritocracy, it is a society that has chosen to exclude its own citizens by design.”

Dr Ju Gosling, co-chair of Regard, the national organisation of LGBTQI+ disabled people, said: “Suella Braverman and Reform continue to miss the entire point of the Equality Act.

“The act is there to ensure that everyone can access employment based on merit, regardless of their disability, the colour of their skin, the faith they follow, the language they speak at home… their gender, or their family background.

“The act is there to ensure that everyone can reach their full potential in education, rather than being limited to mediocrity by prejudice and by institutions and resources that don’t meet their needs.

“The act is there to ensure that everyone can access the services they need to thrive, rather than being limited by barriers.

“And the act is there to ensure that everyone can come together in unity to enjoy sport and culture, rather than being divided by inaccessible venues and policies.

“Without the Equality Act, the UK can never achieve excellence.”

The online grassroots organisation Disability Rebellion said in a statement: “All of us at Disability Rebellion see this as a huge step backwards and it feels like Reform are gearing up to legalise discrimination, which will negatively impact vulnerable groups and remove any protections.

“Disabled people already face the challenges of discrimination on a daily basis, so ripping up the Equality Act is essentially going to destroy everything we’ve worked so hard for and set disability rights back by decades.”

Professor Peter Beresford, co-chair of the national service-user network Shaping Our Lives, said: “The whole point of the kind of dog whistle politics that right wing populists like Braverman and Farage are reduced to relying on is that it can encourage large groups of people to open their mouths and clap their hands before they switch on their brains.

“Whatever the barriers that have had to be fought against, this country has a commitment to equality that goes back more than a century.

“Votes for women, ending the empire, a safe haven for Jews oppressed by Nazism, an end to legalised discrimination against LGBTQ people… it’s a long list and one to be proud of.”

He added: “We live in an increasingly diverse society and we also live in an ageing one, which means that any attack like Braverman’s is also a coded attack on disabled people.

“What she wants us to forget is what we have in common as she tries to tear us and our legal system apart.”

Paula Peters, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: “It is absolutely frightening that a Reform government would repeal the Equality Act of 2010 on their first day in office

“To repeal the act would be a serious regression of the protection of disabled people’s rights.

“Disabled people use this legislation to challenge government bodies and service-providers when discriminated against to secure reasonable adjustments.”

And Joshua Reeves, founder of the Don’t Call Me Special campaign, said: “Any move to weaken the Equality Act would constitute a serious regression in the protection of disabled people’s rights.

“This is not symbolic legislation; it is the primary legal mechanism through which discrimination is challenged and reasonable adjustments are secured.

“At Don’t Call Me Special, we stand alongside Disabled People Against Cuts in affirming that equality law is a cornerstone of civil protection, not administrative excess.

“It underpins the participation of disabled people in employment, education, and public life.

“Our rights are not political bargaining chips. They are statutory protections secured through sustained advocacy, and they must not be diluted.”

Asked how it would replace the protections disabled people and other groups enjoy in the Equality Act, a Reform UK spokesperson told DNS in a statement: “Reform UK remains committed to supporting workplace protections against discrimination.

“No-one should be treated unfairly because of their sex, race, if they are pregnant or have a disability.

“That’s why we will introduce a new ‘Workplace Fairness Act’ to replace the Equality Act and ensure workplace protections are maintained whilst also re-asserting the rights of individuals rather than groups under the law.

“The Equality Act has been damaging to our economy, our society, and the way government works.

“It has unleashed the burdensome and unfair DEI culture that plagues workspaces and has enforced discrimination and equality of outcome.

“This has led to the unacceptable situation of unfair recruitment policies, positive discrimination and anti-white working-class bias, pitting different groups against each other and dividing our country.”

When DNS asked Reform UK to confirm if the party and Braverman realised that the Equality Act did not just protect disabled people and other groups from discrimination in the workplace, a spokesperson added: “Of course these protections won’t be scrapped and all provisions for disabled people will be kept.

“We will introduce a new act to replace the Equality Act that does not fuel the divisive culture of identity politics – more details will follow in due course.

“A Reform UK government will always support protections against discrimination based on disability, including in services.

“Neither Suella nor the party have ever made any suggestion that we will water down provisions for disabled people.”