HMRC gives trans people access to VIP hotline

Nonsense. It's perfectly permissible to "favour" a protected characteristic if it's a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, as you should already know since that's precisely the basis on which service providers can provide women-only services without it being discriminatory. Trans people's data is dealt with in a particular way to protect their privacy, this is nothing new it's been this way for years, and it's perfectly legitimate to direct them straight to the service that can deal with them. It helps no one if trans people have to call into the main service only to be told they can't be helped and forwarded on - that's taking a space in the queue and an agent away from other people they could be helping. It's also not unusual at all for big contact centres to give out different numbers for different services, it helps them monitor traffic and filter calls, and it most certainly isn't "discrimination" if some services have a shorter wait time than others.

This entire article is just rage bait aimed at the sort of people who'll start fuming about anything that has "trans" in the headline, if you want to waste your cortisol getting pissed off about it when it doesn't affect you in the tiniest bit, more fool you.

That is a very shit stirring article from The Telegraph. Frankly anyone who has to phone HMRC is about to enter the fifth circle of hell anyway, regardless of what number they’re calling.

still, it’s hard to understand the confidentiality rationale HMRC are putting forward:

HMRC insisted the policy was necessary because the records of transgender people required “greater protection” to ensure confidentiality under equality laws.

a person’s trans status will certainly not be a secret, not least because they’ll never stop bloody going on about it, but also because people have eyes. I met two trans people yesterday. One was indisputably a man despite his fake boobs and breathy voice and the other a woman despite her beard and plaid shirt.

Yup, have read it now. This is a discrimination case waiting to be won. Anyone else who has a protected characteristic should be able to make a case, because they've issued this new edict on the basis of trans people's "gender reassignment" status. Which is favoring one protected characteristic over another.

What would be really interesting, is for someone who doesn't have a GRC to try to sue HMRC for discrimination. Would possibly start to hash out in law, what does "gender reassignment " actually mean?

Window dressing, I would imagine. Because HMRC must now start following the law, they have give the activists something, so they don't turn up with a piss protest.

Fucking hell. That is bloody ridiculous.

Gosh all these holiness, wonder if it is the same dept as the DBS trans hotline who've had to be given a bit more work to do as they've never had one bloody call?