Highlights from last week’s equality and diversity news – Ken Livingstone criticised for ‘Tory party riddled with gays’ remark, discrimination case upheld against Christian hotel owners for refusing double room to gay couple and Cameron focuses on lack of women in the boardrooms in UK.

Ken Livingstone came under criticism for remarking that the Conservative party had been ‘riddled’ with suppressed homosexuality. Several Tory and Lib Dem MPs took offence at the term ‘riddled’ alleging that the remark was homophobic. But Livingstone stood by his comments, saying he had actually been paying a ‘slightly backhanded compliment’ to the Conservatives.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has upheld that the Christian hotel owners directly discriminated against a gay couple by refusing them a double room. Mr and Mrs Bull, the hotel owners, said that their hotel rule, based on their Christian faith, was that no unmarried couples could share a double room. However, the judges ruled that religious belief does not offer an exemption from laws that everyone running a business has to follow. Equality law already has exemptions for religious organisations, which the judges noted the hotel was not.

David Cameron has warned that Britain’s economic recovery is being held back by a lack of women in the boardroom. He said there was clear evidence that ending Britain’s male-dominated business culture would improve performance. He also pledged to learn lessons from Nordic and Baltic countries as he joined eight of their leaders for a summit in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Securing promotion for women and encouraging female entrepreneurs is one of the two central themes of the Northern Future Forum.

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