It begins! Calls for NHS lanyards to be removed because of the Nowak killing

[SocialistMammy]

I suppose this knee-jerk over-the-top reaction was inevitable.

There are calls today - including from Kemi Badenoch - for public sector staff, including the NHS! to stop wearing "political" lanyards.

These could be just showing that you're a decent person who opposes genocide, or that your patient is safe with you regardless of your sexuality or gender identity when they are being treated.

And this is all because .. of the murder of Henry Nowak.

So, despite the calls from Nowak's family not to politicise their poor boy's death - that's EXACTLY what the far right are now trying to do. And the NHS has NOTHING to do with that police officer.

Where this is heading looks very ugly - we've got a World Cup starting shortly, and that's going to mean England flags being used to attack minorities. Will footballers have to make statements about diversity being anti white? Probably - it feels like the far right think this is their time now and ANYTHING is up for grabs.

It will be lanyards today, deportations tomorrow. Mark my words.

And they feel less safe here than they would in Gaza, unless they see someone wearing their flag?

Well that didn’t go the way you expected did it op?
Perhaps concentrate on doing a good job instead of virtue signalling what a good person you are.

I don’t care about the politics of the people treating me when I need medical care. I care that they can do their job.

Good!

The expectation is everyone regardless of who or what they represent believe is rewarded fairly and with respect so why you would need a visual representation pinned to you to align yourself with one particular or multiple groups is ridiculous. And as for pro pal badges we all know that would intimidate Jewish service users regardless of any non malicious intention . Leave you politics at home and vote in the polls for what you believe in .

To be honest these lanyards have no place on NHS staff full stop.

They are performative and people being paid to take care of those in hospitals should be doing their job regardless of whether they support gay rights, hate genocide or whatever.
Their personal views are irrelevant, they are there to do their job.

Exactly, it should be a set basic uniform.

Well if they came to Britain, I'm guessing its because they know it to be safe.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I'm also guessing they would think the same if there were no NHS pro-palestine lanyards.

The virtue signalling is actively divisive. We know it is. Its pointless pretending differently. In practical terms I don't think we need to be performative in getting the message across that the UK is safe for Palestinians.

Get a grip OP. The workplace is no place for virtue signalling.

Excellent news, thanks for letting us know @SocialistMammy

Keep politics out of public services please!

I think you are being extremely OTT OP.

No public sector worker should express a political view during the course of their job.

It would not normally be acceptable in a public facing role to wear something stating a political affiliation- even less so in a public funded body.
Political lanyards are unacceptable

I am just so pleased to see so many sensible people in one place....and by "sensible", I mean of course "agreeing with me" I was quite surprised this morning to see that political badges and lanyards should be banned in the NHS as during my time there they were never allowed anyway!

Exactly, it is performative virtue signalling nonsense for the most part.

Good. Employees paid for by the taxpayer need to keep their personal political views out of their day to day job.

And those lanyards are more often than not the shield behind which truly awful people, who live by the opposite set of values they purport to uphold (most notably tolerance of other peoples' news), hide in plain sight.

I am fed up when dealing with public servants of getting their political views at the same time.

It has no place in the service.

What happened to judging people’s behaviour rather than appearance?

When I meet a person I assume that they aren’t homophobic, racist etc until they say or do anything that suggests otherwise. They don’t need to wear a lanyard.

Being against homophobia, genocide or whatever should be the default. Do lanyard people consider what people think when they choose say Pride over anti racism? Do they teach their kids to state their causes and ask others about theirs rather than assume that they everybody is reasonable until proven otherwise?

I think this whole thread with this unpleasant heading is a wind-up. It makes me feel uncomfortable reading the original post.

I work in the NHS and support this. A badge from your professional society or the dementia awareness one or long service badge fair enough but the implication that people are “unsafe” if staff aren’t dripping with ribbons like a maypole is obscene.

I remember when there was all the fuss over the National Trust and the rainbow lanyards volunteers were ordered to wear.

I would never wear any kind of declaration at work or anywhere else. I just don't do that. So I would have been asked to leave my volunteer post, I'm sure.

Another problem with these things is that, if you decline to wear such a statement, people assume you are opposed to the message and that really bugs me. . I'm not homophobic or racist, but I just will not wear slogans or political declarations.

I have to admit that it's partly personal experience - the people I knew at university long ago and have met since in my career who wore slogans and symbols have been some of the least impressive as human beings. Their reason for parading their views wasn't so much to do good for the cause, but to piss off other people who they thought held different opinions.

Total virtue signalling.

Absolutely. It's insulting because, as you say, these humane values should be assumed until there's a clear reason to think otherwise.

And I resent being preached at by anybody.

Oh yes. Dh had to go to the Job Centre. His adviser was wearing a Pride lanyard and a Palestine badge and scarf. Dh came home a bit shaken as she was foul to him, sneering and rude.

Is office wear at the discretion of individual managers in the public sector? Perhaps some don’t care/support the politics of are even somewhat afraid of an aggressively political employee.

That’s a good thing, political activism should happen in your outside life not while you’re on shift.

What begins?

The NHS should be neutral like the Red Cross. No political badges should be on display at all.