Petition to Amend Equality Act to Address Accent Bias in the UK is Led by CCLS Alumnus
Read more about Yash Jangid recent petition to have an amendment to Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010.
Read more about Yash Jangid recent petition to have an amendment to Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010.
A delegation led by CCLS alumnus Yash Jangid (Commercial and Corporate Law LLM, 2023) has formally submitted a petition at 10 Downing Street, addressed to the House of Commons, calling for an amendment to Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 to recognise “accent” as a protected characteristic. The delegation included current Queen Mary students Vishwajeet Singh Deora (Geography with Business Management BSc, 2026) and Shourya Sah (Corporate Finance MSc, 2026).
The petition argues that accent bias remains a widespread but often overlooked form of discrimination in the UK, influencing recruitment, promotion and social mobility despite having no connection to professional competence or merit. It highlights that existing evidence and lived experiences demonstrate how certain regional and ethnic minority accents are routinely undervalued, while current equality law provides limited protection unless the accent is linked to another protected characteristic. On this basis, the petition calls on Parliament to close this gap through legislative reform.
Commenting on the submission, Yash Jangid said the initiative was guided by the principle that opportunity in a modern economy must rest on ability and integrity rather than linguistic background. He noted that while UK equality law has evolved significantly, accent bias remains largely unaddressed despite clear empirical research and suggested that confronting such structural blind spots is essential to maintaining confidence in meritocratic institutions.
Yash Jangid further said that the group now aims to launch a nationwide campaign to secure 100,000 signatures, the threshold required to trigger a Parliamentary debate, and to engage legal professionals, employers, academics and policymakers in a substantive discussion on social mobility and the future development of equality law in the UK.
Queen Mary University of London has also conducted extensive empirical research on accent bias through its Accent Bias in Britain project, which found that accent-based hierarchies remain deeply entrenched in the UK and continue to influence perceptions of competence and suitability in professional settings, including the legal sector