---

Punjabi Community in Britain

It is an honour to have you in the Chair this afternoon, Ms Walley, and it is also an honour to take part in what, thanks to the dedication of the all-party group on the Punjabi community in Britain, and its chair, my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), has become a regular debate on the Punjabi community in Britain. Today's debate, and the detailed community-based research that has gone into its preparation, has been wide-ranging and informative. It is also very timely. Only two weeks ago, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Denham) launched the Government's paper "Tackling race inequality: a statement on race". That paper recognised that although Britain has changed a lot over the past 10 years, there are still problems such as the wearing of the kirpan that we need to tackle. Some of those issues have been mentioned in today's debate, and I congratulate the all-party group, and its many friends, on the work it does to address such issues in our country. The legislative and community framework in which the all-party group is working has, as I said earlier, changed a great deal and will continue to do so thanks to the Equality Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. As the then Minister responsible for equality, I played a large part in drafting the Bill, so I am extremely familiar with the arguments about caste-based discrimination and prejudice, and I have spoken to hon. Members about that at length. I know that some Members would like to have seen that issue dealt with in the Equality Bill, and my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington explained the Government's position extremely well. The Government have not found sufficient evidence for the existence of caste-based discrimination in the United Kingdom that is compelling enough to require a major change to the law, particularly as the areas where it is said to occur—and where I believe it does occur—may already be covered by other legislation. However, there has been progress, and the Government are commissioning independent research on caste prejudice and discrimination in the UK. We made a commitment in the other place to give a progress report on it when the Equality Bill reaches Report, and I hope that provides hon. Members with some assurance that we are taking the matter seriously. The story of Britain's Punjabi community is one of great success. The community has been successfully integrated in British life while managing to remain both culturally confident and distinct. As part of the wider Indian group, Punjabis have managed to achieve educational and employment levels that are above—in some cases very much above—those of the rest of the community. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington, I pay tribute to the Guru Nanak school in Southall for making such a contribution.