Repealing the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to consolidate anti-discrimination laws in the UK. However, over time, it has been weaponised to suppress free speech, particularly against critics of gender ideology and Islamism; undermine women’s sex-based rights, allowing self-identification of gender to override biological reality; and create a hierarchy of protected characteristics where gender identity and religion override sex, belief, and free expression. Gordon Brown’s Labour government (2007-2010) was heavily influenced by the rise of “victimhood culture” and early “woke” ideas when passing the Equality Act The law reflected a shift towards identity politics, which has since weaponised legal protections in favour of ideological activism rather than genuine equality. Growing academic influence from postmodernism and critical theories framed society as a structure of “privileged vs. oppressed” groups and promoted the increased use of legislation to regulate speech and thought, rather than just prevent actual discrimination. In the Equality Act, there is an expansion of “protected characteristics” beyond traditional civil rights (e.g., race, sex) to subjective identities (e.g., gender identity) and a shift towards prioritising “lived experience” over objective reality, particularly in gender, race, and religion.