THE INDEPENDENT: Discrimination, conflicts of interest, financial irregularities: allegations against Trevor Phillips and his commission are building.
It was not supposed to work like this. The Government's equality watchdog – which is charged with rooting out discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, religion, sexuality, age or disability – was yesterday in the dock charged with discrimination by a member of its own staff. It only adds to the mound of political embarrassment being heaped upon the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, whose days in the job look increasingly limited.
The woman before an employment tribunal yesterday was Brid Johal, from Tipperary. (These things are important when it comes to equality). She was an aide to the aide of Mr Phillips. Even aides have aides in the wonderful world of quangos, until David Cameron gets his way at any rate. While she was on maternity leave the person who was covering for her – whom we might, unkindly perhaps, describe as the aide of the aide of the aide – was promoted over Ms Johal's head. It happened just as a commission bigwig was holding forth publicly about how unfortunate it was that women get penalised if they take a year off. Ms Johal told the tribunal that she had not been informed that there was a vacancy available despite her bosses' promises that she would be "kept in the loop" while she was away.
There is now muttering inside the EHRC about how it has not, after all, consigned to history a world in which some people are more equal than others. "There is something oddly old-fashioned going on in terms of plum jobs at the higher level," one insider said recently.
Some are beginning to think that the man at the top, Trevor Phillips, may have feet of clay. Indeed some are murmuring that the clay goes up to knee-level and beyond. The commission has been hit in recent months by a succession of internal disputes and allegations of financial irregularities. There is talk now that the former television executive, who wanted a second term in the job, will be forced to step down when his contract ends in the autumn. >>> Paul Vallely and Kevin Rawlinson | Wednesday, July 08, 2009
