New super-quango will tackle discrimination

A new equalities super-quango with sweeping powers to root out discrimination in the workplace and television advertisements was finally unveiled by the Government today.

The body, which will be included in a Bill in next week's Queen's Speech, will produce an annual "state of the nation" report on equal rights for homosexuals, the disabled, ethnic minorities, the elderly and women.

However, the Tories immediately warned that the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR) could be misused to install "political correctness" into every area of life.

Shadow equalities minister Eleanor Laing said that the new commission risked becoming a "bureaucratic black hole" that spread "political correctness and unwelcome interference" in people's lives.

The commission will bring together the separate organisations that currently monitor discrimination, such as the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Equalities Minister Jacqui Smith said in a Commons statement that the new body would have wide powers to investigate allegations of discrimination without prior permission of ministers.

The £50 million-a-year quango will have an explicit role to "combat prejudice in the workplace" and cut "hate crime" affecting particular minority groups.

Ms Smith said: "The Government is determined to ensure that the CEHR has the teeth to tackle the root causes of discrimination and promote human rights in the 21st century."