Bridget Phillipson blocking EHRC guidance - thread 2

[lcakethereforeIam]

Thread 1

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5462015-brigitte-phillipson-blocking-ehrc-guidance

Hope I've spelled her name correctly this time.

Emphasis mine. I wonder how many of these teachers were sanctioned against panel recommendations for wrongthink?"

You appear to be correct. From the list of remarks in the document
Mr Samuel Everett: Professional conduct
panel outcome
Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the
Secretary of State for Education
February 2026

"l. “No” in response to a post saying “Should Labour’s Eddie Izzard, who could be
an MP very soon & is fully intact with male genitalia, be allowed in women only
toilets & changing rooms? Yes or no?”;"

"Panels of three people not employed by the Department for Education or the TRA (Teaching Regulation Agency) consider teacher misconduct cases.

If they conclude there is serious misconduct, they make a recommendation on whether the accused should be banned from teaching and the length of a review period before they can apply to rejoin.

But the final decision rests with a senior TRA official working on the secretary of state’s behalf."

"Andrew Faux, of Lawyers for Teachers, warned that “overruling panels so often will inevitably undermine public trust in the process”.

It may also “lead some accused teachers to disengage on the basis that no matter how they present to the independent panel, the sanction will be decided by a civil servant whom they never meet.

“We hope that stakeholders, such as trade unions, are concerned by this development.”

More likely the Free Speech Union in a case like that of Darlington teacher Samuel Everett.

https://x.com/SpeechUnion/status/2034624250011602953

Fat chance a Trade Union would be any help to Samuel Everett.

Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the matter should be “closely monitored in line with principles of due process and a fair trial”.

“A TRA panel, made up of education experts who are present throughout a hearing, are best placed to make a fair and informed judgment based on the evidence presented to them.

“If decisions are later overturned by someone not as familiar with the details of the case, and who has not been present throughout the hearing, this could lead to an increase in High Court challenges and ultimately extend the time taken to conclude the case.”

So not Phillipson herself but serial Civil Servant and TRA (!) Quango bod Marc Cavey.

"Marc Cavey is the head of the Teaching Regulation Agency who has barred this teacher for, reportedly, expressing legal & reasonable opinions on social media. The probability of teachers soon facing the sack for supposed "anti-Muslim hostility" is now high."

https://x.com/DavePalmerUK1/status/2034670958859141550

Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, TRA
Marc Cavey

Biography
Marc Cavey became the Chief Executive of the Teaching Regulation Agency in June 2023. He is also the Accounting Officer.

Marc has worked in a number of senior civil service roles across government including at the:

• Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) - helping to lead its COVID-19 response
• Standards and Testing Agency (STA)
• Department for Education (DfE)
• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, TRA
The Chief Executive is responsible for overseeing the work of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA). This includes responsibility for leading the teacher misconduct team responsible for delivering the Secretary of State’s statutory responsibilities for teacher misconduct under the Education Act 2002
The Accounting Officer is accountable to the Secretary of State for the performance, leadership and day-to-day management of the TRA.

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/marc-cavey

Ok, so we've got a teacher misconduct scheme which has been around for long enough that, I assume, it was set up to deal with teachers doing things we can all agree are misconduct, like racial discrimination or shagging their pupils.

This has now generated a cottage industry of complainers dobbing in teachers for spicy comments on social media, because for some people we're in a permanent 2018 where it's righteous to make people unemployed for having the wrong opinions.

The panels that consider these cases are NFAing a bunch of cases, and there's a rising trend of DfE officials, acting for the Secretary of State, overturning the NFA decision.

Which is more likely:

• There are clear cases of misconduct that TRA panels are being unduly lenient on, and it's necessary to overturn these decisions to maintain confidence in the system; or
• There are a bunch of complaints about social media posts where the TRA panel says "we're not going to sanction you, just be a bit more careful online" and the DfE officials say no, this teacher must be sanctioned.

I know what my instinct says, but I'd love to see these decisions broken down.

TRA = Teachers Regulation Agency
TRA = Trans Rights Activist

All that's happened is that Bridget has got confused and can't tell her arse from her elbow 😁

It's easily done. I don't often browse dating sites, but once in a blue moon I have a look and see a bunch of women with "no ONS" on their profile and wonder what they've got against the Office for National Statistics.

Every time I see cis I wonder why the construction industry scheme is so problematic 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Every time I see cis I splutter in disgust. It's exhausting 😄

I know. But if I don’t laugh, I’ll scream. I used to ask every TRA banging on about “ cis women” why they cared so much about female brickies 😂😂

I think she will be attempting to play all sides which never works. She will be trying to keep in with whoever she thinks will win the inevitable leadership contest.

Nope, not getting it! 😀Can you explain, @SionnachRuadh ?

I have never been on a dating site in my life - I prefer to fall for idiots I meet in random settings from time to time - but I believe ONS means One Night Stand.

Well, duh! Thanks for that!

Presumably, these teachers, who have expressed perfectly legal, protected opinions online, been cleared and then suspended have clear cut discrimination and harassment cases against the Min of Ed and possibly, the people who suspended / sacked them.

Possibly even Bridge, as its been carried outin her name.

Toby Young on X:

The Online Safety Act contains important free speech safeguards stopping social media platforms removing ‘journalistic content’ and ‘content of democratic importance’. But three years after the Online Safety Act received Royal Assent, Ofcom still hasn’t brought in those safeguards. It has imposed the ‘take down’ duties, but not all the ‘keep up’ duties. More than 50 members of the House of Lords, including me, wrote to Liz Kendal about this in January, asking when those free speech duties would be brought in. We got a reply more than two months later blaming Ofcom for the delay.

Starting to see a pattern here.