Race Law Change Sought

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32217, 9 February 1970, Page 15

Race Law Change Sought

(N.Z. P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, Feb. 8.

Members of Parliament have called for changes in Britain’s race relations law so that advertisements for people holding special skills because of nationality are made legal once again.

The agitation arose after an elderly doctor, who wanted expertly-cooked porridge for his breakfast, was warned that his advertisement for a Scottish daily help was ille-

gal under the law which bans racial discrimination in jobs, housing and other fields. “There is no doubt that it did lead to considerable feeling that in this casz the law was an ass,” Mr Jo Grimond, former leader of the Liberal Party, told the House of Commons during a debate. It is generally conceded that it is reasonable that a black band should have a black drummer but under the Act they cannot advertise for one, he said. Mr Grimond was supported by a Labour M.P., Mr Hugh Jenkins, who said it was now considered illegal to advertise for a Hawaiian guitarist,

an Indian waiter, an AfroAsian drummer, or a West Indian dancer. But a former Commonwealth Relations Secretary, Mr Arthur Bottomley, said that people of any nationality or descent could possess the skills needed to cook Pakistani curry or to teach Hindi. The heart of the present race relations legislation, he went on, was that a man or woman should be judged by competence and not by ancestry.

Under the proposed change, an employer could advertise for an Englishman to work in a traditional English restaurant and argue that only someone of English nationality or of white descent could qualify. “Ways could be found of saying ‘no coloured’,” Mr Bottomley added.