Cheshire Police panel chair in LGBT lanyard row

[Popchyk]

Bob Foussert, chair of the Cheshire police and crime panel, claimed it was political for the force's deputy chief constable to don LGBT neckwear.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-48642848

So he's being hounded. Naturally.

twitter.com/phi1mccann/status/1141052266780200963

Raises an interesting point re: impartiality and signalling support for a particular section of the community.

Harry the Owl might be interested in this.

@HazzatheOwl

Are the police not allowed to show support for the LGBT community then? That’s worrying given the progress they’ve made .

Well done, that man. He’s absolutely right. When I was nursing we were not permitted to wear ANY kind of badge or lanyard in support of any organisation, religion, political view point or charity. Yet the lgbT lanyards are being handing out to everyone and people are being made to feel like bigots if they don’t want to wear them.

Jeez the police should now be wearing hundreds of lanyards to,show support for all and everyone and everybody

Or just get on with the job the6 get paid for which is solving crimes and stopping crimes and all the crime stuff

What about showing support to the Jewish community?

There's so much anti-semitism about.

Should coppers wear Star of David lanyards to show support?

Or not?

I am! Seeing a barrister tomorrow to talk about this very issue. The blatant politicisation of the police and their alliance with Stonewall is, we think, illegal. We are discussing bringing a challenge as we have seen compelling evidence that Stonewall are writing the police's internal policies as well as using the police as a de facto private army.

Will keep you all informed.

He's right. There are good reasons for the rule, there are precedents.
The police aren't allowed to hold Freemasons meetings inside New Scotland Yard any more, and they aren't permitted to be members of the BNP.

What is the thing about lanyards?

Surely they should belong to the organisation they have the id card for and are representing.

Now let’s be fair. After all they wore the suffragette colours, in support of the first females being permitted to vote, didn’t they? Oh, that’s right. That was only about women.

What about wearing something to show female victims of rape. Oh no, that’s right, they’re too busy printing posters that imply that it’s the women’s fault for men’s behaviour.

You might want to get in touch with Bob Foussert at some point, Harry.

Start building alliances.

Cos, let's face it, he'll be out of a job by tomorrow. He might have spare time to help.

Cool harry do it.

Good luck, HazzaTheOwl. Thank you for trying to protect women and children. 💐

Don't Stonewall give those out after you've been re-educated trained.

It's sad that it feels this way now.

@HazzaTheOwl I admire you. Thank you.

I wonder whether Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke would wear a "Woman=Adult Human Female" lanyard?
If not - why not??

I’m not surprised more and more cop shows are set in the past. Imagine Morse or George Gently dealing with this crap. Even the last Jane Tennison was set on the Seventies.

I think the police should not be wearing any kind of insignia that promotes one section of society above all others. Justice should be impartial.

"I wonder whether Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke would wear a "Woman=Adult Human Female" lanyard"?

Precisely.

Why is one deemed hate speech and the other is showing support for a section of the community?

Who decides? And on what basis?

Do they wear their rainbow lanyards when they are visiting mosques or would that be inflammatory?

Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke, formerly of Merseyside Police.

She leads the police service in LGBT matters. (Out of interest, although it's not relevant, she is a straight woman married to a man)

Loves Mermaids. Hosted a Mermaids Christmas Party in Merseyside (2018) and gave the welcoming address at a Mermaids Training session for police, CPS and other public services(2019).

Ignores critical tweets that are addressed to her and the National Police Chief Council about police officers using the words 'Terf', or proclaiming that they stand with the T in the LGBT first and foremost. Does not engage at all on how inappropriate it is for police officers to show partiality.

Having said that, she appears to focus on supporting transitioning staff and all the HR business, rather than 'operational' police concerns. Sounds like a Lib Dem who sees into the souls of staff and probably wouldn't recognise an AGP even if he wore a badge saying AGP.

Whether she likes it or not, the question of the police's inability to mediate the conflicting narratives of 'trans rights' and 'women's safeguards and protection from male violence' is political.

The issue is not with supporting a community. The problem is supporting a political campaign that is being driven by that community. The rainbow flag and the trans flag are incorporated into Stonewalls website. The website is also openly calling for reforms to the GRA and they explicitly call on allies to join them. Thus, the campaign and the emblems become overtly political.

The law requires not just that the police do not engage in politics, but also that they do not give the impression of being engaged in politics.

When they hoist the flag, wear rainbow lanyard and sign Stonewall pledges, the clear impression I get is that they support Stonewall politics. That cannot be right.

When causes become political and lobby this will come up. And I don't mean they shouldn't lobby, I mean there are all kinds of reasons the police, and military, should remain resolutely non-political.

There was a big controversy here a while ago when a town refused to fly the rainbow flag over city hall. In the end they clarified the rules and only a very few flags besides the national and provincial ones were allowed at all. It was widely decried as homophobia but I think it was probably correct.

Can’t wear a rainbow lanyard as a school employee. Doesn’t mean I don’t care about people...what’s all this lanyard crap anyway.

Appreciate what you're doing, Harry.

Yeah harry.
Police need to be doing the jobs they get paid to be and be impartial.

Not signalling to some communities that they are the only communities they support

That is a very slippery road they are on. Makes me feel excluded