We Cannot Forget That All People Are Created Equal
Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal. Our public institutions cannot be allowed to forget that.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. He was, as most people who say sensible things about the dignity of the individual tend to be, drawing on the English philosopher John Locke. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke argued that men are by nature all free, equal and independent: “the workmanship of one omnipotent and infinitely wise Maker,” furnished with “like faculties” and sharing “all in one community of nature.”
Nowadays, whether it is the religious overtones or some contradiction developed late in the road of political ideology, many would not claim this view as their own. But luckily for us, it long ago became the bedrock of Western civilisation, underwriting in the political sphere the demand that no human may claim rightful domination over another without their free consent.
The principle has never been completely consistently applied. But it continues to be the most important feature of the delicate balance liberal democracies have struck in honouring the dignity of the individual while having a functioning state. In practical terms and above all, it has been the main justification for free-thinking people’s sceptical acquiescence to the state and its excesses: that at least when politicians decide to start having ideas, they must do so while treating everyone equally.
Yet, more and more, this quietly unwritten maxim at the core of our constitution is being overshadowed. That principle for which many have fought and died is now in open retreat across many parts of public life. In its stead, a set of highly contested moral and philosophical ideas have been absorbed. Their consequences - things most right-thinking people would find unacceptable - are becoming evermore clear.
What is happening?
In December 2024, it emerged that the joint summer intelligence internship run by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ is explicitly closed to white British students, accepting applications from only students with “Black, Asian, mixed heritage or ethnic minority backgrounds” and who meet criteria of social or economic disadvantage. White British students, including those from the most deprived backgrounds, are excluded as a matter of principle. That scheme has now run for three consecutive years, with a fourth intake with the same restrictions in place now already selected.
