Kemi Badenoch: Diversity obsession has led to Kafkaesque madness (KB for PM?)

[IwantToRetire]

Another really straightforwarded down to earth practical commentary of where chasing the rainbow has led us. And ideas on how Government cant, without being dictatorial help solve the mess.

The root of the problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Equality Act 2010, often exploited by those with a separate agenda. The Equality Act is a shield, not a sword. It is about preventing discrimination, not social engineering. There are no protected groups in the act, only protected characteristics. A white man is just as protected on the characteristics of race and sex as a black woman, yet many believe the act is there just to protect minorities, when in reality it protects us all.

Many companies’ diversity and inclusion activities are falling foul of the law; for example by confusing legal positive action and positive discrimination, which is illegal — except when selecting political candidates (a handy get-out-clause Labour devised to use all-women shortlists). Encouraging people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply for a job or go for a promotion is positive action, and legal. Restricting applications for a position to a certain group is positive discrimination and most certainly isn’t. This has led to increasing calls for the Equality Act to be scrapped. The act is 13 years old and could be improved but the issue is not the law. It’s bad actors misrepresenting it to suit their agenda.

Many of these laws were written at a time when institutions knew how to self-regulate. Someone proposing a terrible idea would be checked by colleagues in the organisation. Today, those colleagues are scared of being called bigots for disagreeing, so they say nothing. What the Farage and Sawers cases have done is show that this problem is getting worse. Long-held tenets of liberal democracy — freedom of association, freedom of conscience, the presumption of innocence — are being tossed aside in favour of dubious inclusion strategies that themselves fall foul of the law. In some cases they’re cancelling people before any wrongdoing occurs, leaving them with no way to prove their innocence.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kemi-badenoch-banking-scandal-natwest-niigel-farage-wdp3mmq0w
Also available via archive.ph

Why do you think Sunak pressured NatWest for Alison Rose to resign? And why is Badenoch moved enough by Farages plight to write articles in the Times?
Sunak can't be arsed to read parliamentary reports into his own partys corruption, or find the money for the infected blood victims. But he can find the time for this.

I don't understand how you can be outraged by my "prejudice" yet not outraged by the behaviour of our government. The priorities are all wrong.

Anyway blahblah. Not very interested in discussing politics with Faragistas. Suffice to say that very little said on this thread is feminist.

What spiteful nonsense.

How do you think Maya et al would be getting on now without free speech?

Not very interested?

Ok toodle pip

The thought police version of feminism you see here is grim.

I expect posters like that are pretty selective about which women are in their Venn diagram circles and you would never quite know one day to the next about the rules.

Given that this thread is now fully derailed, @AdamRyan is talking out of their arse. Nigel Farage (loathe him or hate him) was a PEP. As such, Coutts must have applied enhanced checking on him and his account activity. They were clearly satisfied for many years as his accounts remained open. He ceased to be a PEP some years ago when he left all his previous political affiliations. He has not been debanked because he is a PEP who has failed enhanced checking and if @AdamRyan has any idea what they are talking about, they would admit this.

I feel this thread got the B team, what with the regular de-railers being on their holidays.

Is there such a thing any more?

I liked that article and I think that kb hit the nail on the head with it (no I'm not a fan of hers but she's still right about this).
As for @AdamRyan and co who are unable to understand why we would stand up for an odious little man like farage and his right to free speech may I suggest that you read the quote from Martin Niemöller below and think about it.

This Venn diagram seems useful.
Can't always agree with someone about everything.

That's the one I meant nomore, thanks

jane

A politically exposed person (PEP) is someone who holds or has held public office and therefore may be more susceptible to bribery or corruption.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/what-are-peps-and-are-banks-allowed-to-close-their-accounts-12923419

Farage said on Twitter that "Brexit", "Russia" and "Donald Trump" were mentioned multiple times in the documents he obtained and that Coutts had said "the client's [Farage's] financial position is now sufficient to retain on a commercial basis".

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/farage-makes-fresh-allegations-against-uks-coutts-over-account-closures-2023-07-19/

But yes, I'm sure this is all about banks being woke. They are well known for being lefty.

My question remains, why are the conservatives so keen to defend farage? They were notable quiet about women losing their jobs. I didn't see any articles by Kemi Badenoch about Allison Bailey. Curious.

When, exactly, did opposing freedom of thought and expression, and rejecting the idea that all groups in society - not just some that are privileged over others - should have access to equal rights, become an essential basis for left wing purity?

It seems you wilfully ignored missed Kemi Badenoch speaking out about Kathleen Stock being forced to resign from her job.

Yeah, they have actually addressed the problem of freedom of speech at universities. If my timeline is correct in my brain, it's one of the earliest things they did.

The stuff with banking is really serious, and if it was just NF maybe people would think, there is more to the story, but of course it isn't just him. And we are not talking about baking a cake - people now actually must have a bank account to function, and rather like universities, or libraries, or health care, banking is meant to be neutral around the values of its customers/patrons, so long as nothing illegal is going on. Having a bank isn't a thing people can really opt out of.

To me though the really interesting thing about the article is that she so clearly lays out that the things protected in the EA are not specifically about minorities, or groups at all, but are about all individuals. That is something that I think could require a serious shift in thinking by many, and let's be honest, including many feminists. But I also think we can see now where treating it as many have been treating it simply sets up a different kind of hierarchy that is ripe for exploitation by the unprincipled. A mirror image of what it claims to be defending against.

To be fair the furore around Kathleen Stock started several years before she was forced to resign and before Badenoch made a statement.
I see a lot of the Conservatives positioning now on trans issues as being about culture wars/winning votes, as opposed to genuine concern for women.

I'm saving my admiration for the MPs who actually stood up for women when it was against their parties policy.

Caroline Flint. Rosie Duffield. David Davies.

E.g.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/tory-lgbt-group-brands-mp-david-tc-davies-transphobe-11226481

Frightening because you appear to support undemocratic corporate discrimination against someone you don't like and whose views you disagree with. That is the misplaced 'good intentions' based on identity think, that will eventually lead this society to hell as it appears to be taking hold.

Farage has been offered to have his bank account reinstalled by Coutts. Thus they had no legitimate basis to close his account.

I sincerely hope none of my personal lawful political views or characteristics result in me being denied financial services in a society in which not having a bank account makes it near impossible to live.

I remember thinking the extremities of the American political system and the personal backbiting and fighting between pundits on the Left and Right would not happen in this country. I thought we were more egalitarian on the whole. Years ago, Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire predicted political views would eventually affect every aspect of life, including the entertainment industry, banking, credit providers, education. There would be conservative providers of said services and left leaning ones. I remember thinking how absolutely ridiculous that was, but now, unbelievably I think I begin to see the beginnings of it.

'Faragistas'

That was funny admittedly.

Aliso Bailey tweeted this in 2022

Tory MPs will do well to select @KemiBadenoch as the next Conservative leader. She gets the urgency & importance of standing firm on women & girls' sex-based rights & is thoroughly impressive. She is the Tories best hope of securing a victory over Labour at the next GE.

Okay but Badenoch isn't going to be PM. This was written for the conference season and it may stand her in good stead with her party after the next election. Whatever crumbs are left by that stage. It's important to realise she is the third least unpopular member of the Cabinet. That is not popular, it's just that the Tory Party are so degraded that they can't have a positive indicator for their talent. However she's busy preparing for leadership and should happily mop up those few remaining nutters who like Brexit. If she actually changes the law on equality re biological sex I will revise my opinion. A bit of sabre rattling isn't anything. When you are in government you have the capacity to do things, and when there is no delivery vote accordingly. Talking a good game is for opposition so presumably she's headed that way.

We'll see!

Trust me, she won't make PM... but she will make a fine opposition leader

Trust me, she won't make PM... but she will make a fine opposition leader

I very much doubt she will stay around to be an opposition leader.

But anyway that isn't what the article was about, which was meant to be the point of this thread!

And just to repeat my adding KB for PM in brackets was a joke, and as much about jostling by ministers in the Tory party.

But still think what she said about people not bothering or deliberately misusing the EA is relevant, and on that more people need to educate themselves about.

The EA is badly written and needs revising.
I think there is a large faction of the Conservative right who want shot of it for other reasons, such as to allow businesses to not have to make adjustments for disability etc. So I don't trust them to update it fairly.

The EA is badly written and needs revising.

I suggest you read the article. There is no mention of rewriting the EA.

The article is about how people either dont understand its purpose, or deliberately misuse it for a particular purpose.