Labour appears to back recording Sikh as ethnicity in UK census

LONDON: UK’s Labour govt appears to be backing a campaign by British Sikh groups and MP Preet Kaur Gill to have data recorded and collected about Sikhs as an ethnicity rather than religion.

UK govt departments do not currently collect ethnicity data on Sikhs or Jews but sometimes collect religious data.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) recently finished a public consultation on adding additional ethnicities to its “ethnicity harmonised standard” — a list of ethnic groups used in govt surveys — to be used in the next census.

At a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday organised by Gill, Cabinet Office minister Satvir Kaur said: “Let me be clear: the govt, ONS and GSS all recognise that Sikh identity and Jewish identity are ethnic as well as religious identities. Under the Equality Act, Sikhs and Jews are a racial group by reference to their ethnic origins. Both are also religious groups.”

But she said it was for the ONS to “reach an impartial, evidence-based decision” and pointed out not all ethnicities in the UK would fit on a survey.

The new list of recommended ethnic groups will be announced in autumn. They will be selected based on strength of user need, whether the information can be collected elsewhere, such as via a religion question, and whether people of that ethnicity accept the question.

As part of the consultation process, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) consulted with the Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) and the Supreme Sikh Council UK.

At Wednesday’s debate, Gill argued that collecting data on Jews and Sikhs as ethnicities would allow public bodies to understand inequalities and recognise discrimination. She added racially aggravated crimes against Sikhs were not recorded as such, preventing targeted protections from being put in place.

At the 2021 census around 100,000 Sikhs wrote their ethnicity as Sikh in a “write in box”, rejecting the “British Indian” ethnicity option. The GSS said that an ethnic group that frequently appeared in the write-in box will have a stronger case for inclusion.

In 2020, Amrik Singh Gill, chair of SFUK, brought a judicial review in the high court against the Cabinet Office challenging the lack of a Sikh ethnic tick-box in the 2021 census. The judge rejected the challenge, saying “there are diverging views as to whether Sikh is an ethnic group”.