As per this morning’s breaking news, the exchange of letters has taken place between Katharine Birbalsingh and Kemi Badenoch. In reply to Birbalsingh’s letter setting out her reasons for leaving, Kemi thanks her for using her tenure to outline “a fresh approach to social mobility, moving away from the notion that social mobility should just be about the “long” upward mobility from the bottom to the top.” Badenoch goes on to thank her for giving the “organisation a strong sense of direction and purpose”…
Absolutely tragic that Birbalsingh has been traduced and ousted at the hands of the chattering classes. We need more of her ilk not fewer.
Read the exchange of letters in full below:
Headmistress extraordinaire and anti-woke warrior Katharine Birbalsingh has quit as the government’s Social Mobility Commissioner after just over a year in the job. Birbalsingh was appointed by Liz Truss in October 2021, promising to tackle the “bigotry of low expectations” with a focus on “education, enterprise and employment”. Her appointment marked yet another quango the Tories had managed to wrestle back control of from left-wing leadership…
Writing for Schools Week today, Birbalsingh said her presence “is only holding the commission back”, owing to her coming “with too much baggage.”
“Over this past year, I have become increasingly aware that my propensity to voice opinions that are considered controversial puts the commission in jeopardy.
At the end of a recent interview, I realised that my idea of a successful discussion was now one where I manage to avoid giving opinions that might bring attention to the commission. Instead of going out there to bat for the team and celebrate our achievements, I am becoming a politician. And I can’t bear the idea of ever being a politician. It just isn’t who I am or a skillset I wish to develop.”
An exchange of letters between Katharine and Kemi is set to be published shortly; no doubt she will be sorely missed…
Liz Truss in her capacity as Minister for Women and Equalities has appointed seven new members to the Social Mobility Commission board. Guido is pleasantly surprised by some of the names on the list.
The individuals appointed are: Matthew Goodwin, Dr Raghib Ali, Resham Kotecha, Ryan Henson, Rob Henderson, Parminder Kohli, and Rob Wilson. Goodwin is a particularly sound appointment. The team joins chair of the commission Katharine Birbalsingh, who was appointed in October, with their responsibilities including writing an annual report into social mobility across the UK, challenging employers over social mobility amongst the workforce, and providing advice to ministers on how to improve social mobility.
Other appointees’ CVs include:
Truss says:
“Everyone in the UK should have the freedom to reach their full potential. These appointments are a positive step forward for equality in this country as we strive to improve social mobility and ensure everyone has the chance to succeed. The combined expertise and experience of the new Commissioners will help the SMC to carry out its important work to ensure a person’s circumstances of birth do not determine outcomes in life.”
This may be a sign of things to come. Read the full announcement here.
Notoriously strict and high-achieving headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh has finally got the job of a lifetime after being appointed the government’s new social mobility commissioner. Birbalsingh first rose to prominence speaking at the 2010 Tory conference, and has more recently attacked “woke culture”:
““It is always acceptable in our woke culture of 2021 to mercilessly attack black conservatives. They have ‘betrayed’ their leftist masters by daring to think for themselves, when they should be grateful. THAT is institutionalised/cultural racism. And it is everywhere.”
Today Birbalsingh spent the morning railing against the “bigotry of low expectations” with Julia Hartley-Brewer, arguing the “accident of your birth [shouldn’t be] something that determines the rest of your life”. The appointment was made by Liz Truss who has asked Birbalsingh to focus on “education, enterprise and employment”.
Birbalsingh’s appointment means the social mobility commission is the latest quango to be cleared out of left-wing leadership as part of the new anti-woke agenda of No. 10, with EHRC now led by Falkner, Goodhart and Butcher; the Office for Students let by Lord Wharton and the Children’s Commissioner led by Rachel De Souza. As much as Peter Riddell may despair at the clearing out of Blair era appointees with their Common Purpose groupthink, it is essential if the country is going to thrive in the future. The removal of the permanent left-wing nomenklatura from the agencies of the state is one of the most important missions the government is undertaking…
