Telegraph article about funding cut to the EHRC

[GettingMarriedAgain]

Can’t see a post on this anywhere. A funding cut to the EHRC might mean it can’t carry out its remit:
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/05/28/liz-truss-cabinet-row-save-anti-woke-watchdog-daunting-funding/

From the article:
“The Telegraph understands that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), chaired by Baroness Falkner of Margravine, has been told that its £17.1 million budget is to be slashed to about £15 million - despite having remained frozen since 2012.

Critics said the move would give succour to lobby groups that have clashed with Lady Falkner. They have also argued it is at odds with a government pledge in March to "invest" in the body's work.

The cut would mean that the EHRC would "lose more staff and won't be able to carry out its functions", a Whitehall source said.”

Just when it looked like the EHRC was actually starting to do its job properly. FFS.

That's a substantial blow.

I'd suggest that Whitehall and the Civil Service stops buying in consultancy from lobby groups and actually redirects that money to expand the EHRC.

Seconded.

I bet stonewalls been flexing again

Could we offer to tidy up their garden?

Sounds like a good idea for a spot of letter writing to MPs and a one-off campaign I'm in!

I’d think that’s very likely

In the recent Wine with Women, there's a point where they discuss that one of the drivers for Stonewall's decision to adopt T as a campaigning point was that they needed the £100K that it would bring them. The Two Helens then ruefully say, "If only we'd known then what we know now, we'd have crowdfunded it for them to sit on their hands. Look what clearing up the consequences has cost us to date!" (I paraphrase.) From around here:

The Two Helens then ruefully say, "If only we'd known then what we know now, we'd have crowdfunded it for them to sit on their hands. Look what clearing up the consequences has cost us to date!"

Easily said than done though. One sci-fi time travel trope is that you have to actually live through and experience the alternate reality to be motivated enough to spend however many years of your life constructing the machinery to invent time travel to go back and undo it.

And then when you do undo it you have to fool your past self into thinking it wasn't undone before they time leap away to avoid a paradox.

Or something like that. (See Back to the Future, Steins;Gate,)

No way in hell would you have convinced native 2015 women, or LGB people, to give £100k to Stonewall to avoid including "T" back then. We had to actually live through 2015-2022.

No way in hell would you have convinced native 2015 women, or LGB people, to give £100k to Stonewall to avoid including "T" back then. We had to actually live through 2015-2022.

Paying an organisation £100K to do nothing then raises the question of for how long before it does take on a suspicious resemblance to a protection racket. 🤔

It was wine chat rather than a serious proposal but MN FWR has form for musing on portals but mostly of the radicalisation form.

Civil service people could spend their 20% time at tax payers expense to work for the EHRC and towards actual diversity for ALL the protected characteristics instead of spending that time working for Stonewall.

That would fill the gap.

This is sounding like a plan. Redirect money from lobby groups; repurpose the Civil Servants who are spending 20% of their time on 1 protected characteristic to share their collective attention and actions to improve the lot of the other 8.

Is anyone particularly gifted at drafting that sort of letter?

I would certanly sign it, and send a copy to my MP. He's all for being kind to the T, so it's about time he started directing a bit of kindness to the others.

For my vipers:

Dear [my MP]

The Telegraph reports that the budget for the Equality and Human Rights Commission - which has been frozen since 2012 - is to be cut from £17.1M, to £15M.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/05/28/liz-truss-cabinet-row-save-anti-woke-watchdog-daunting-fundingg__/_]

As you may know, the EHRC has made a small cost saving by withdrawing from Stonewall. It has also rolled out mandatory political impartiality training for its staff, which shows it has attempted to wrest itself from the requirements of a lobby group and do its job. For this, it should not be punished.

Tim Loughton MP submitted a number of written questions which revealed what Whitehall departments were spending on training from lobby groups (mostly Stonewall) that act as though the law is as they would like it to be. Those come to about £2.6M over the the last five years.

So Whitehall has money. It should be spent on respecting, implementing and enforcing the law. Happily, this is what the EHRC does. With that, I present to you the ideal solution: take the money from departments outsourcing their responsibilities to lobby groups and give it to the EHRC.

Everyone wins.

Yours,
MNer-saurus-rex

Written questions
Stonewall:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610644_ - Cabinet Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610622_ - Scotland Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610655_ - Wales Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610533_ - Ministry of Justice
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610544_ - Dept for Business
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610588_ - Dept for International Trade
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610577_ - Dept for Environment and Rural Affairs
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610599_ - Dept for levelling up
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610522_ - Ministery of Defence
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610677_ - Northern Ireland Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610633_ - Home Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610555_ - Dept for Culture and Media
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-25/625644_ - Treasury
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-01/670466_ - Attorney General
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610566_ - Dept for Education
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-03/689944_ - Treasury
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-01/670455_ Foreign Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-09/723433_ - Treasury
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-09/723444_ - Dept for Education
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-09/723422_ - Foreign Office
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-10-22/610600_ - Dept for Transport
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-09/723455_ - Dept for Business
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-16/758055_ - Dept for Health
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-17/765488_ - Ministry of Defence
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-17/765500_ - National Offender Management
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-17/765511_ - Office of Public Guardian
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-17/765522_ - Courts and Tribunal Services

Dept for Education / Global Butterflies one: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-12-16/942700__/_

@ResisterRex Thank you so much for putting this together for us.

You're very welcome

Ditto!