Whistleblowers at EHRC say that Kishwer Falkner is the victim of a 'witch-hunt by trans lobby'

[IwantToRetire]

Relations are said to have soured after she backed legal reforms guarding the rights of biological women in single-sex spaces such as hospital wards and toilets.

The employees at the Equality and Human Rights Commission are said to have compiled a dossier, setting out more than 40 complaints aimed at Baroness Falkner by a dozen current and former colleagues. A source said: 'People within the organisation are deeply concerned that this is a witch-hunt.

'The timing is extremely questionable. There is no doubt in my mind that this is ideologically motivated and is a way to take a scalp in revenge. ...

Baroness Falkner is said to have been left 'heartbroken' by the allegations but those close to her said her 'conscience was clear'. They branded the move by EHRC staff a 'failed coup d'etat'.

Members of the commission's board, which is headed by Baroness Falkner, have called for an overhaul of the 2010 Equality Act, which refers to gender and sex interchangeably.

They argue it should be amended to explicitly define sex as 'biological sex' to bring legal clarity in areas including sport and ensure only 'biological women' can use single-sex spaces.

Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for gender self-identification, allowing trans people to state their chosen gender without any medical diagnosis.

A second source said: 'The executive just refused to accept the board's decision. There were strenuous efforts to reject it and it was around this time allegations were starting to be made.

'There is a very progressive, activist-inclined staff who are influenced by organisations and groups like Stonewall.'

The source said senior executives had grown accustomed to calling the shots at the commission but this changed when Baroness Falkner took over to provide 'real leadership'.

They said the complaints felt like a move to 'get her', adding: 'This process of finding fault with Kishwer is clearly political.' The dossier is said to have made claims of discrimination, including transphobia, bullying and harassment. ...

Full story (sorry!) at DM https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12112707/Whistleblowers-human-rights-commission-say-boss-facing-witch-hunt-trans-lobby.html

The share token on the Janice Turner seems to have expired, but if you paste the article link https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cc40627c-fbf1-11ed-bc7a-1444acf8fa38 into https://archive.ph it does seem to be there.

What's so concerning is that this pattern of behaviour now seems to be wide spread. I have been one of many people complaining about how nobody seems able to get anything done, and speculated that univeristy education isn't actually help people become fit for work. Now it seems its not the education, but the indoctrination into a cult. Where is this all going to end?

One former NGO director explained to The Intercept magazine that for young people for whom social justice means waging a Twitter pile-on, real change is daunting: “Maybe I can’t end racism by myself, but I can get my manager fired . . . People found power where they could, and often that’s where you work.” Identity politics re-routed campaigns from the wider world to the self; from building things up to smashing them down.

This, in part, is the EHRC’s story too. But the battle to bring down Falkner is not mere Gen Z iconoclasm, it is laser-targeted. Since December 2020, when she took office, Stonewall has led a coalition of LGBT groups in three attempts to have EHRC downgraded from an A-status human rights body. Three times it has failed. One by one, Stonewall’s back channels to change government policy covertly have been removed. The EHRC was its strongest redoubt, its governmental proxy, until Falkner came along.

UCL defanged Stonewall two plus years ago. The EDI director at KCL has gone, citing
sheer disinterest from the top, to bore the Bank of England to death a year ago and last week Oxford's director of diversity and inclusion explained in an all staff meeting that Professor Kathleen Stock doesn't believe the same things as other people and that's okay as far as he's concerned.

I work at at a very senior level in HE, we are not indoctrinated. Please see all of my posts as evidence.

Honestly, no-one at the top is indoctrinated. We would rather you all stop fighting each other but we accept this is a by product of free speech and activism amongst staff and students.

Hepwo, that may be true for the London-based members of the Russell Group but the more provincial members are still falling over themselves to be Stonewall Diversity Champions at a cost of thousands per year whilst hiring Blah Equality Officers and flying the trans flag on campus.

Here is a new sharetoken for JT's comment:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cc40627c-fbf1-11ed-bc7a-1444acf8fa38?shareToken=7c4fdf9abdeaac243de126aec1157abe

There is also this article, not sure if it's shared somewhere yet:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bc205c62-fbbf-11ed-9be0-622d8a105167?shareToken=eb2141c3a7d61f7a2bc9ed7b188aba63

Front page of Saturday's Mail:

twitter.com/tmorrowspapers/status/1662213484719792135?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

This seems to be the article:

mailonline.pressreader.com/article/281500755625140

If that were the case then why won’t Edinburgh ensure that the screening of Adult Human Female could take place? Why didn’t Bristol protect Raquel, Sussex Dr Stock, or Open University Jo phoenix? Why was Essex condemned in a QCs report and had to apologise for deplatforming?

By Baroness Deech, another CB peer like Falkner (Not that C4 News corrected Nokes on this when she got that wrong):

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12129895/BARONESS-DEECH-tide-turning-selfless-woman-treated-respect.html

"I am not aware of even a whisper of concern about her management style in any of these demanding roles. And yet her leadership now stands accused of the very offences – such as intolerance and oppression – that the commission was established to combat.
Protecting minorities, advancing rights and promoting equality all lie at the core of its mission, which perhaps helps to explain why the evidence produced against the baroness has been so weak.
That hasn't stopped some vile individuals labelling her a 'Nazi' online. Not only is this an absurd accusation to levy at a such a notoriously selfless woman, but it is also a devastating insult to those – such as members of my family – who were murdered in the Holocaust.
In this week's thoroughly one-sided Channel 4 programme, which sought in vain to paint her as a bully, the allegations from her resentful critics were vague and unconvincing."

Why didn’t Bristol protect Raquel, Sussex Dr Stock, or Open University Jo phoenix?

Going by the applicants statements for the recent UCU elections, it looked to me that a fair amount of those believe quite strongly in TWAW. The conversations that I’ve had where this belief was being repeated are with union reps. All with a very ‘bekind’ feeling and not much beyond that. My impression is that these normally intelligent women are completely unaware of the wider events taking place re prisons, sport, refuges, rape centres etc.

Plus, there are faculty with skin in the game, so to speak, that push the logical fallacy that trying to protect women’s rights = transphobic hate.

I will suggest that whilst senior leadership may not be indoctrinated, what I’ve seen is a willingness to ‘trust’ those in charge of EDI with precious little checking on the process and the results.

“Falkner and her supporters reject the claims and said that although she could be “robust”, the claims of bullying were manufactured.” says The Times.

Exactly the same defence made by the likes of Raab and Patel.

And all this to corroborate what Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls was saying last week. Women in the western countries are not allowed a voice on how gender impact sex rights.

Women have human rights distinct from gender preferences. All power to women standing for their rights.

Yes, this movement is part of the VAWG spectrum and needs to be viewed in that light.

For those who haven't read it, the text of the UN Special Rapporteur's important statement of concern is available via a link in this press release:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/allow-women-and-girls-speak-sex-gender-and-gender-identity-without

BaronMunchausen

C4 News certainly did not"examine" the claims and allegations. Admittedly an 'examination' would have been difficult, as, other than the "bloke in lipstick" allegation, none of them was specific.

C4 also knew perfectly well that that was Baroness Falkner condemning the abuse that the person had been subject to and that she was quoting an example of what had been written.

If they have told a deliberate lie about something so easily disprovable, how can they expect viewers to believe a single word that they've said in the rest of the programme?

Well, they certainly knew by then that there was another side to the supposed "bloke in a lipstick" comment. Strange how although she also allegedly rolled her eyes once (pass the smelling salts!!), when she was supposed to have said that in a derogatory way, the story was not accompanied by any reporting of her body language.

C4 also knew perfectly well that that was Baroness Falkner condemning the abuse that the person had been subject to and that she was quoting an example of what had been written.

Surely you're not just regurgitating the words of Falkner's defenders as if they are proven fact?

There is fuck all wrong with being robust, are people today so molly coddled that they can't cope with this? Does everything they hear have to be wrapped in waffle and cotton wool and said in a pleading, submissive voice?

It is ironic though how those self same people who become a puddle at someone being robust manage to voice their views and threats very robustly when it suits them.

Surely you're not just regurgitating the words of Falkner's defenders as if they are proven fact?

It is a proven fact, it was reported at the time. If you don't believe me, you can look up the original article and if you form the opinion that Falkner was being abusive, then I've a bridge and some magic beans to sell you.

You can even read it in some of the articles from the last couple of days.

Surely you're not just regurgitating the words of Falkner's defenders as if they are proven fact?

If C4 News had been reporting impartially, they would have mentioned this version of the alleged event. It was in the public domain at the time the report aired, but they did not mention it.

Perhaps because viewers would have been able to make up their own minds as to which of the two versions was the more plausible?

Yes, there is definitely a pattern. Though not necessarily the "Gotcha!" that you seem to think it is.

Oh for reruns of "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister!"

This is Channel 4's reply to my complaint about lack of professionalism and one sided reporting:

We can advise that this report provided coverage of the independent investigation into culture at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, with the content compliant with Ofcom Guidelines

hmmmmmmm ...

I didn't complain to Ofcom but I think others did so will be interesting to see what they say.

I did not complain to Ofcom either and had a similar reply. Also saying they would refer it back to the team at C4 news

I complained to Ofcom. I thought it was a very clear breach of ofcom guidelines (section 5) on impartiality.

I mentioned my unhappiness about the treatment of Baroness Falkner to a friend yesterday. We don’t normally talk about current affairs so I was slight surprised that my friend was aware of the issue. Apparently Falkner was a bully, and the situation was of her own making. My friend had seen something on telly about it.

I'm so happy to hear this! My daughter's starting a humanities degree there in September, and I was worried...

I looked up KCL (where I went myself), a few years ago, and it seemed pretty far down the EDI/woke road, so I'm relieved to hear they've reined it in - and also that the real "grown-ups" have (mostly) retained their sanity.