Farage accused of ‘divisive politics’ over unproven declare white males are dropping jobs due to Equality Act | EUROtoday

Nigel Farage has been accused of “playing into short-sighted, divisive politics” after making unproven claims that middle-class, white males are dropping jobs due to the Equality Act.

His declare got here only a day after Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s new equality and training chief, promised to scrap the act on day one if her social gathering gained the following election, claiming that Britain is being “ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion” insurance policies.

The Equality Act 2010 – which changed earlier anti-discrimination legal guidelines – legally protects individuals with protected traits, together with: age, incapacity, gender reassignment, marital standing, being pregnant and maternity, race, faith or perception, intercourse and sexual orientation, from discrimination within the office and in wider society.

But the Reform chief claims these protections are to the detriment of white males.

Asked on Wednesday whether or not he might assure no one would lose a job due to their intercourse, ethnicity or incapacity beneath his social gathering’s plans to scrap the Equality Act, Mr Farage stated: “Well, people are losing their jobs now, particularly if they are white, and male and middle-aged.

“And that’s the problem, that actually something that was designed to stop discrimination becomes in itself discriminatory. The protections you’re talking about were in law way before the 2010 Equalities Act.”

However, official figures from July to September 2025 seem to point out that the other is true, with individuals from white ethnic backgrounds having decrease charges of unemployment within the UK than these from minority ethnic backgrounds.

In this era, the UK unemployment charge for individuals from a white ethnic background was 4.3 per cent, a rise of 0.7 proportion factors from the identical interval the earlier yr. Meanwhile, the unemployment charge for individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds was 8.8 per cent, a rise of 0.6 proportion factors from the identical interval the earlier yr.

open image in gallery

And in response to the 2021 census for England and Wales, individuals from White Irish and White British ethnic backgrounds had the bottom unemployment charges at 4.7 and 4.9 per cent respectively. People from Arab and Other Black ethnic backgrounds had the best unemployment charges, at 14.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

Responding to Mr Farage’s remarks, Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of main anti-racism charity the Runnymede Trust, hit out at Mr Farage’s feedback, accusing him of “playing into short-sighted, divisive politics that does nothing to help anyone and instead breeds the politics of grievance and resentment”.

Dr Begum additionally took purpose at Ms Braverman’s declare that the nation is being “ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion” insurance policies, dubbing it “inflammatory, divisive and quite frankly dishonest”.

She instructed The Independent: “At a time when racial and religiously motivated hate crimes and violence in opposition to ladies and ladies are all steeply rising, it will be irresponsible to take away the few protections in place for these in danger.”

Meanwhile, Paul Nowak, the overall secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) accused Mr Farage of “peddling made-up nonsense”.

“The Equality Act protects everyone at work – including white, middle-aged men – whether from age discrimination, religious discrimination or other unfair treatment”, he stated.

“Let’s be clear about what’s really going on here. Reform wants to legalise discrimination and rip up hard-won workplace rights. That isn’t standing up for working people – it’s leaving people at the mercy of bad bosses. It’s a bully’s charter.”

James Douglas, authorized director on the Good Law Project accused Mr Farage of being “detached from both the law and reality”, telling The Independent: “Scrapping the Equality Act wouldn’t just take us back to 2010, it would reverse all the progress we’ve made since the 1970s.”

“Scare stories about white, middle-aged men losing their jobs don’t hide the fact that by opposing it, Reform have made clear that they don’t believe in equality”, he added.

And Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, who sits on the Women and Equalities Committee, warned Mr Farage that “rights are not finite”.

She stated: “Protecting people who might be vulnerable because of their sex, ethnicity, or disability does not undermine anyone else’s rights.

open image in gallery

“It simply creates a level playing field for all of us. Should we always be aware of how we can improve those protections in the act? Yes, but that’s very different from what Reform is suggesting.”

Mr Farage’s latest comments came after Ms Braverman, who was newly appointed as Reform’s head of education, skills and equalities, asked: “Why does no one in this government seem to care that it’s white working-class boys who have the worst educational outcomes in our country today?”

She added: “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.

“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.”

The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville additionally attacked the rights of transgender younger individuals, saying that “social and gender transitioning will be banned in all schools, no ifs, no buts” if Reform involves energy.

She promised to “bring an end to the transgender chaos in schools”, claiming that youngsters are “taught more about gender ideology than biological fact”.

Reform UK has been contacted for remark.