Does Equality Matter?

Having spent the past year heavily involved in championing more women from black and minority ethnic communities around the country to come forward and enter political and public life, as a member of the BME Women Councillors Task Force - I think it does. But I'm under no illusions that I am probably not in the majority of thinking that this is a topic that really matters to many.
Strange really that many commentators, men and women from all the political parties often point to how our society has become more unequal in the past decade, and social mobility has hit the buffers.
As the Equality Bill makes its way onto the statute books, trust in politicians has slumped to an all time low in the aftermath of the expenses scandal. Many wise words have been written and said that in the midst of an economic recession, now is not the time to be bothering with the 'trivia' of equalities. I think now is exactly the time to forge ahead and seize the opportunity to legitimise our democracy by ensuring we increase the diversity of our Parliament and our MPs so that in the public eyes they are more credible and understand and can empathise with the wider public. And simply, a more equal society is desirable because it is fairer, more at ease with itself, and more peaceful. As Liberal Democrats, we believe in fairness and equality, but when we come to look at practical ways of achieving this its the 'how' that we grapple with.
The Speakers Conference produced its interim report last week. One of its recommendations is that all political parties show 'leadership' nationally, regionally and locally to ensure that 'the current round of selections for vacant seats results in a diverse list of candidates'. It also calls on promoting equality by selecting at least 50% women as candidates, and to seek a wider placement of BME, and disabled candidates across the country.
This all makes good sense. It cannot be right that we have more MPs named David than we have women.
Here is the current situation, according to research carried out by the Sutton Trust a few years ago:
Labour: 97 women MPs (27% of Labour MPs)
Tories: 17 women MPs (9% of Tory MPs)
LibDems: 9 women MPs (14% of LibDem MPs)
BME representation:
Considering ethnic minorities, make up around 11% of the UK population, rising to 45-50% in some inner citty areas, there are only a total of 15 ethnic minority MPs in parliament out of the 646 MPs (2.3%). 13 are Labour and 2 are Tories. None are LibDems. The two Tory ethnic minority MPs entered parliament in 2005.
On educational background of MPs:
Labour: 18% of MPs went to public school
Tories: 59% of MPs went to public school
LibDems: 39% of MPs went to public school

I think these are shocking statistics, and demonstrate that there is a need for urgent action, no more so than within the Liberal Democrats. Whilst there has been a call for all BME short lists for example, I think its desirable to explore all methods of positive action first, but if all else fails then they like all women short-lists will have to be considered as a one off to bring about a more level playing field. Will it discriminate against all white men is a question frequently put? Yes in some places it might, but women and people from BME communities who have struggled for years to break through into public life, have been discriminated for many years while we have been presided over by an unrepresentative legislature.
People from working class backgrounds are also becoming a rarity in public life. We need the best people from ALL backgrounds, and not the very narrow selection we have today.