Despite instructions to withdraw from the “Diversity Champions” scheme, new figures from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) reveal government departments still gladly handed Stonewall £1,221,222 over the last year, with a whopping 234 public organisations paying subscriptions in the last twelve months. Even after senior civil servants held multiple “crisis meetings” specifically to organise Whitehall’s exit from the money-grabbing scheme…

According to the TPA, membership of the scheme cost taxpayers at least £709,225 in 2021-22, with £108,602 splashed on conferences, events and training programmes designed to educate civil servants on becoming champions of diversity and inclusion. A further £403,395 came in the form of grants, with the devolved governments coughing up the most: the Welsh Government gave £168,870, and the Scottish Government handed over £99,917. The only good news is this is down on previous years, although still about £1.2 million too much…

Duncan Simpson of the TPA said:

“Taxpayers should not be subsidising controversial campaigners. Some public bodies continue to prop up pressure groups like Stonewall with taxpayers’ cash, despite ministers urging against it and budgets facing a serious squeeze. Withdrawing from unnecessary schemes and cutting gratuitous grants are obvious ways that savings can be found.”

A reminder that the Civil Service’s latest diversity and inclusion strategy was supposed to “ensure value for taxpayers money”…