'Banter ban' will have chilling effect on our free speech

ARE you ready for the “banter ban”? Labour is planning to ban banter in pubs, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and football grounds.

- Toby Young

Clause 20 of the Employment Rights Bill, currently going through the House of Lords, amends the Equality Act to impose a legal duty on employers to “take all reasonable steps” to prevent their employees being “harassed” by third parties — meaning they could be sued by their workers if they don’t do enough.

That may sound reasonable, but the Worker Protection Act 2023 already extends employers’ liability under the Equality Act for third-party sexual harassment — and of course, any form of physical assault is already a crime.

So the “harassment” we're talking about here is verbal. Among other things, it will include conversations between customers or members of the public that are overheard by employees — not directed at them — and which they find offensive in virtue of one or more “protected” characteristics. Not just their own, mind you. Under Labour’s new law, employees will be able to take offence on behalf of one of their colleagues.

Given that we live in an age in which some are hyper-sensitive, the implications for the hospitality sector of turbo-charging the Equality Act in this way are mind-boggling.