Race discrimination: Scottish and English are racial groups

The Scottish and the English constitute separate racial groups for the purposes of the Race Relations Act, defined by reference to their "national origins", rules the EAT in Northern Joint Police Board v Power [1997] IRLR 610. Accordingly, the EAT holds that an Englishman who was turned down for the post of Chief Constable of the Northern Constabulary in Scotland is entitled to bring a complaint that he was discriminated against on "racial grounds", namely his English national origin.