Would Social Progress Endure Without Equality Legislation?

The relationship between law and social progress in the United Kingdom is reciprocal rather than sequential: law does not merely reflect social change; it actively shapes and sustains it. The question of whether social progress would continue if the Equality Act 2010 and related legislation were repealed invites reflection on the nature of moral development, institutional inertia, and the educative function of law. While social attitudes in Britain have indeed become more tolerant, this moral progress is historically intertwined with - and partly dependent upon - legal structure. Without that scaffolding, equality norms would likely erode over time, as law’s absence would weaken both enforcement mechanisms and the moral signals that anchor social consensus.

Law as the Architect of Social Norms

From the mid-twentieth century onwards, British equality legislation progressively translated moral ideals into institutional practice. The Race Relations Acts (1965–76), Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and ultimately the Equality Act 2010 did not merely punish prejudice; they redefined it as socially unacceptable. Sociological evidence supports the view that public attitudes towards race, gender, and sexuality liberalised after legal reform rather than before it. Law, in this sense, served as a moral educator. As Jeremy Waldron argues, law functions not simply as coercion but as a public declaration of shared values, shaping what citizens see as legitimate or shameful behaviour. The Equality Act’s continued presence thus reinforces a shared expectation of fairness even when no claim is ever litigated.

Freedom, Equality, and the Philosophical Balance

This evolution mirrors deeper philosophical tensions in liberal thought. Classical liberals such as Locke and Mill conceived rights as protections from state interference - a vision of negative liberty later analysed by Isaiah Berlin. By contrast, modern rights - including equality and anti-discrimination law - embody positive liberty: the capacity to participate in social life free from private domination. The Human Rights Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010 institutionalised this shift from liberty as mere non-interference to liberty as effective inclusion. Yet, as Berlin warned, positive liberty can risk coercion when the state enforces moral consensus. The UK’s rights framework attempts a delicate Rawlsian balance: ensuring “equal basic liberties” while using law to rectify structural inequality. The result is a hybrid model of liberty and fairness sustained by continual legal reinforcement.

The Consequences of Repeal

If the Equality Act were repealed, explicit prejudice might not instantly return. Decades of education, generational change, and social pressure have entrenched tolerance in much of public life. However, discrimination would likely re-emerge in subtle, structural forms. Hiring biases, accessibility neglect, and exclusionary “cultural fit” criteria could creep back once external accountability disappeared. Without legal recourse, victims would lack both remedy and validation, and small deviations from fairness would accumulate.

More importantly, repeal would erode law’s symbolic authority. Rawls described public institutions as the “basic structure” through which justice is realised; dismantling that structure signals a withdrawal of collective moral commitment. Once equality ceases to be a legal duty, it becomes a matter of preference - leaving room for rationalisations of prejudice disguised as choice, belief, or tradition.

Conclusion

The endurance of social progress depends not only on moral conviction but on legal continuity. The Equality Act operates as both shield and compass - protecting individuals and orienting society toward fairness. While British society has indeed advanced beyond the overt prejudices of the past, it did so through law, not despite it. Without that framework, the long arc of moral progress might bend backwards, not through sudden malice, but through gradual erosion of the norms that law, for decades, has helped to build.