Sensitive or controversial issues

• Author: Vickers, Lucy
• Pages: 69-70

69

11 SENSITIVE OR CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

11.1 Potential breaches of the directives at the national leve l

- One concern is the wide scope for schools to discriminate against teachers on grounds

of religion which is, in the author’s view, incompatible with Article 2 of Directive

2000/78/EC (see 4.1).

- There is some concern over whether UK law adequately protects self-employed

workers as required by Articles 2 and 3 of Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC

(see 3.2.1).

- There are concerns that the existing remedies do not meet the standard of ‘effective,

proportionate and dissuasive’ set by the directives. A particular concern is the lack of

power to make recommendations extending beyond the respondent’s treatm ent of

the claimant. Article 15 Directive 2000/43/EC and Article 17 Directive 2000/78/EC

(see 6.5c).

- No prohibition o f indirect d iscrimination on grounds of disability in NI (Article 2

Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC).

11.2 Other issues of concern

The decision of the United Kingdom t o leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum raises a

number of concerns for non-discrimination law given that much of the UK law is derived

from the EU directives.

Concern has been expressed regarding the impact on the Roma of the UK’s decision to exit

the EU, as a result of uncertainty over the terms of their residency and the end of EU

funding to support their int egration.188 This concern is add ed to ongoing concerns not ed

above about the difficulties in acce ssing additional education funding (Pupil Premium) for

Traveller children (see 3.2.8b above) and the use of injunctions to bar Traveller

encampments. (see 3.2.10a above)

The Government’s policy of creating a hostile environm ent for those with irregular

immigration status has had an impact on migrants, including many people who are legally

resident in the UK.

Prominent examples include immigrants in the 1960s from Jamaica (named the ‘Windrush

generation’ after the ship that brought one of the first groups of West Indian migrants to

the UK) who have not been able to prove their right to be in the UK due to documents

being lost. Many such individuals have been denied healthcare, lost their jobs and homes,

been threatened with deportation and in some cases deported and refused the right to

return. Their plight was raised by journalists and charities, and the po litical scandal that

resulted led ultimately to the resignation of then Home Secretary Amber Ru dd in 2018.

Although efforts have been made by the government to address the needs of these

individuals, difficulties continued to be reported throughout 2019. Moreover, in 2019, some

EU citizens faced difficulties in gaining settled status. It is feared that following the UK exit

from the EU, those EU cit izens without settled status may face similar difficulties to those

faced by the ‘Windrush’ generation.189

The hostile environmen t has led to dismissal of staff who have the right to remain in the

UK as employers are not satisfied that they have provided the correct proof of status. The

rules about which document s are accepted are very compl ex and are listed alon gside a

threat th at p enalties apply if the employer makes a mistake. They therefore encourage

employers to err on the side of caution and refuse employment rather than risk a penalty.

188 Institute for Public Policy Research (2016) Roma communities and Brexit: Integrating and empowering

Roma in the UK, available at: www.ippr.org/publications/roma-communities-and-brexit.

189 See https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/eu-nationals-face-delays-difficulties-with-brexit-

settlement-scheme-new-report-finds/.