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Hello and welcome to political thinking, a conversation with rather than an interrogation

of someone who's shaped our political thinking about what has shaped theirs.

Now you might think that the job of the Equality and Human Rights Commission was

simply to police and implement the law to ensure equality. But in this era of so-called

culture wars debate about equality is it seems dividing even the Commission itself.

My guess this week is the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission,

Baroness Kishwa Faulkner.

She faced allegations that she had bullied her staff. Allies of her

insisted that she was the victim of a witch hunt for thinking the wrong things

about the toxic debate, about trans rights. An investigation

into that bullying has recently been dropped. Baroness Faulkner was appointed by the Conservatives but she is a former

Liberal Democrat peer. She's also talked of herself being a first-generation migrant to this

country.

She came here from Pakistan.

Baroness Fortuna, welcome to political thinking.

Thank you for having me.

We've been waiting months to have this conversation you and I, because you felt

it wasn't right to speak when there was this investigation into you. An investigation that has been dropped.

We'll talk about some of that later.

But how do you feel now?

Is it like a shadow's been lifted?

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