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Equalities campaigner Lord Lester dies

An eminent lawyer who championed freedom of speech and equal rights

August 10, 2020 11:07
Lord Lester
2 min read

Lord Lester of Herne Hill - the  lawyer who played a pivotal role in introducing race and sex discrimination laws in the UK -  has died aged 84.

Born Anthony Lester in London in 1936 – the son of a barrister father and a milliner mother – the ex-Liberal Democrat peer would later describe himself as a non-believing Jew who remained both proud of his identity but suspicious of organised religion.

But he took part in classes with fellow Liberal Democrat peer  Rabbi Julia Neuberger in which they would speak with young Jewish children about the need to avoid extreme interpretations of pride in their backgrounds.

He spent more than 30 years campaigning for Britain to adopt the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law.