House of Commons excludes Sikh ethnicity tick-box in draft census order

The UK House of Commons has left out a Sikh ethnicity tick-box option in its draft census order.

The decision was taken by the House of Commons, despite the House of Lords recognising Sikhs as an ethnic group back in 1983, and over 100 UK Gurdwaras petitioning the Government to include the tick-box option.

Minister of state for the cabinet office Lord Nicholas True said that Office for National Statistics (ONS) received numerous requests to include ethnicity tick-box options and could not satisfy all of them, but he did not explain why the ONS decided to omit the Sikh option specifically. He noted that there will continue to be a Sikh tick-box option in the question on religion.

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley criticised the Government’s decision and said that it is disappointing to thousands of Sikhs that the Government have decided not to include a Sikh tick box in the ethnic group question.

“There is a clear demand for this from a large section of the Sikh community,” she said. “It is ethnic, not faith, data that public bodies use to make decisions about the provision of public services, so accurate data on the make-up of our communities is vital.”

“Many speeches were made about inclusivity and the Sikh communities,” added Lord Goddard of Stockport. “Sikhs have been recognised as an ethnic group for over 40 years, since this House made that ruling in 1983. The case and the law have been overwhelmingly made; Sikhs should have a tick box under the ethnic identity question

@HayteratLords Thank you for raising #SikhTickBox to #MakeSikhsCount in #Census2021 Virtual @UKHouseofLords without ability for Amendment/Vote & @cabinetofficeuk Ministers able to avoid answering questions & no response of consistency with Scotland disappointing #seeyouincourt pic.twitter.com/gAZms42ImS

— Sikh Federation UK (@SikhFedUK) May 13, 2020

One organisation that has lobbied for a separate Sikh ethnicity tick-box is Sikh Federation UK. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) threatened legal action against first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, after she reneged on a promise to recognise Sikhs as an ethnicity in the 2021 census. The group has hinted at the possibility of further legal action being taken which could delay the census. A compromise for respondents to write “Sikh” in the “other ethnic group” section does not go far enough, the federation said.

Sturgeon was pictured posing with the Sikh Manifesto in 2015 after she secured the federation’s support for the SNP in the Westminster election. The manifesto called for the recognition of “Sikhs as an ethnic group by agreeing to place a separate ‘Sikh’ ethnic tick box in the 2021 census for the compulsory ethnicity question”.