Equality Bill risks creating 'new discrimination' and harming poorest Britons, bombshell report warns

But despite Keir Starmer's insistence on getting the act over the line, revamping Labour's original 2010 Equalities Bill, it still faces fierce criticism.

On Equality and Equal Pay, a Civitas study by Daniel Dieppe, has claimed that widening the scope of Britain's equality laws would inadvertently lead to more discrimination.

The report, citing major British businesses, the bankruptcy of Birmingham City Council, eroding public services and damaging local authority finances, argues for "the removal of equal value pay claims altogether".

"The crux of the problem is that closing a non-discriminatory disparity – as the proposed expansion intends – is a necessarily discriminatory process," the report states.

Lord Sewell, chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and Conservative life peer, said the policy is "unworkable."

"This important report by Civitas exposes a government overly influenced by trade unionists and activists who are determined to implement a policy that is, in practice, unworkable," he stated.

"Crucially, the authors are neither opposed to anti-discrimination principles nor to workers' rights.

"On the contrary, they demonstrate that the proposed Equality Bill risks undermining fairness in the workplace, increasing social division, and damaging economic growth."

The bill has polarised politics, with Reform vowing to scrap the measure.

Nigel Farage previously said they would get "rid of the pernicious, divisive notion of protected characteristics," but still protect people in the workplace.

The party's spokeswoman for Education, Skills, and Equalities, Suella Braverman, also vowed to scrap the law, along with her prospective role as equalities minister, should Reform be elected.

The former Tory Home Secretary said the country was being "ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion", "tokenism," and "victimhood".

Sir Keir vehemently denied such claims.

He told the BBC the laws are "core" to Britain and its values, and have already given "decades of protection" ensuring women and people of all races were "treated equally".

"We know the battles that were fought, many of them by the Labour Party, to get proper equality," he told the outlet.

He added: "I think it actually rips up something that goes to who we are as a country because I believe passionately that to be tolerant, compassionate and diverse is what it is to be British and this year's that up."

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