The illiberal implications of Labour’s manifesto

Labour’s election manifesto may not have much in terms of extra spending, or any substantial plans. But it sends a green light to activists in government, schools, universities and corporations to carry out their illiberal cultural revolution without restraint. 

It promises to introduce ethnicity pay gap reporting requirements for ‘large employers’ and upgrade the focus on hate crime. Compliance departments will emphasise going beyond the letter of the law, leading to discriminatory quotas and speech suppression. The manifesto promises a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for trans people that will make it risky for adults to question a young person’s decision to change pronouns, take puberty blockers and undergo gender reassignment surgery. 

But the biggest change is in mood music, with Labour enthusiastically embracing the identitarian Equality Act, which activists in institutions have used to justify speech policing, political indoctrination and anti-white male discrimination. This will accelerate an ongoing shift in the country’s public culture.