Last Friday a Human Resources Director at Lloyds Banking Group, Sarah Underhill (pronouns She/Her), wrote an email to 30,000 Lloyds staff offering them counselling if they were triggered by the rhetoric heard at that week’s Conservative Party conference:
Like many of you, I was appalled to hear the rhetoric coming from the Conservative Party Conference this week, targeting the trans and non-binary community. Hearing language that fuels hate and division is shocking. To all our trans and non-binary colleagues across Group COO, please know that at Lloyds Banking Group, you are not alone. You are valued. You are welcome here.
I am aware of the brilliant work undertaken in the last few days by our Trans Working Group and their allies, to mobilise support, offering safe spaces for colleagues affected to talk, to vent and to find allyship and assurance. We have heard powerful examples from colleagues around their anger and fears. This is a moment that matters and I would ask that, as a community, we come together to offer allyship and support to anyone affected.
Support is also available via our LGBTQ Mental Health Advocates and through the private medical healthcare available via BUPA. You can also contact Mind Out, our LGBTQ mental health partners.
If Tory rhetoric was too much for Lloyds staff and Sarah Underhill last week, today’s news that Lloyds Bank has opened bank accounts for Nigel Farage will be a bit of a shock for her. She may herself now need counselling…
Given how Nigel Farage’s mere breathing triggers wokesters, Lloyds may need to up their BUPA premiums…
Jason Grant, who was fired from his role as “period dignity officer” for the minor stumbling block that he can’t actually get a period, is trying to sue for sex discrimination. Jason was fired after the backlash to the “ridiculous” decision of appointing a male to the £36,000 per year period tsar position – which was then abolished – despite praise from the SNP. Jason has successfully argued he can take legal action against all four public bodies responsible for his appointment, which now lays the ground for a lengthy hearing to determine if the Equality Act was breached. This all could’ve been avoided if he switched his self-identification…
Yesterday Guido reported on the Telegraph’s “Diversity Download” newsletter, which is sent to all TMG staff this week to remind hacks of useful upcoming dates in their calendars, like Disability Awareness Month, South Asian Heritage Month, and International Men’s Day. There were also a few invites to important internal workshops, including a free sex education class.
There’s more. Once Chris Evans and Ben Riley-Smith have learned about their hormonal health, a few weeks later they can head along to the Out Loud Network’s “day of education and celebration” to mark Pride Month. On 28th June, the Network will be holding an hour-long “lunch and learn” session where they will be taught about the “importance of Pride and hear from LGBTQIA+ colleagues about their own lived experiences”. Not one to miss. The Out Loud Network claims its purpose is to “drive engagement in LGBTQ+ issues (what happened to the ‘IA’?) at TMG”…
The only pity is this training wasn’t given sooner. Guido hears Telegraph staff were asked in a recent internal questionnaire how best to describe their gender. One of the answers was “non-binary or gender non-conforming”…
Last night Guido’s editor appeared on Newsnight to discuss our ongoing campaign to stop the civil service inviting sorcerers and obsessives to give lectures to staff during working hours. Up against the Times columnist Edward Lucas, who had yesterday morning complained about our influence in his column, referencing us no less than three times. Our public service journalism getting credit for kicking the government into action…
Newsnight’s Kirst Wark asked about the ramifications of expecting some basic due diligence by Whitehall mandarins:
“You’ve called these out, in a sense by calling attention to them, haven’t you ramped up the government’s antennae… to look for anything as some kind of problem?”
As Guido pointed out, over a matter of months, civil servants were being invited to lessons in crystal healing, Q&As with witches, and lectures from Green socialists. It was clearly egregious and worth reporting. Lucas suggested perhaps the social media accounts of those uninvited in the future could be of impersonators. This has never been the case for any of the subjects of Guido’s stories. If it was, we would have corrected our reporting.
The guidance was intended to clamp down on informal Civil Service Diversity Networks inviting cranks and extremists to lecture them in working hours at the taxpayers’ expense – when they could perhaps have been doing what they are paid to do. Despite the guidance blocking actual witches, it is not intended to be a witch hunt for experts who don’t take the government’s line on everything.
Ultimately, there needs to be some common sense thinking when sending out these invitations. The last two years or so have shown that’s been sorely lacking…
The North London suburb of Hornsey & Wood Green’s Constituency Labour Party (CLP) has sent out an important agenda item regarding Labour’s autumn conference, which will be voted on at their next meeting:
“We will be taking nominations for candidates for CLP conference delegates. There will be 4 delegates elected at GC, of which a minimum of 2 need to be women; at least one should be a young member and at least one should have another protected characteristic (i.e. be BAME, LGBT or disabled). We do not have to limit the number of nominations we make at the branch meeting. If successfully nominated, candidates will be asked to declare whether they identify with any of these criteria if they wish to be considered for the women, youth or ‘other protected characteristics’ places.”
Guido has done a Venn diagram visually explaining these rules:
Of course, given what happens at conference stays at conference, there is of course the option for unscrupulous straight, white men who are very keen to go, to come out as gay or perhaps fake a limp. Don’t knock it until you try it…
UPDATE: A co-conspirator points out that if a young black disabled lesbian gets selected that could allow an old white straight guy to attend under these rules. Not sure how we can represent that contingency with a Venn diagram. Gold star for the co-conspirator from Rishi for the reasoning.
The Treasury are on the lookout for a new Head of Cyber Security to tackle to the growing threats the country faces online. Candidates will be expected to “lead and drive a team providing critical services to the organisation” as foreign actors attempt to undermine our security through clandestine means. Seriously important work.
The job ad outlines the responsibilities:
“The Head of Cyber Security identifies, understands and mitigates cyber-related risks. They provide risk or service owners with advice to help them make well informed risk-based decisions.
HM Treasury are seeking a candidate that has a consistent track record of managing cyber risk management services and people. The ability to empower, lead and drive a team providing critical services to the organisation will be key… This is a crucial and influential role requiring excellent negotiating and analysis skills, with the ability to collaborate with all key partners at all levels of seniority.”
The chosen candidate, if hired outside the capital, can expect a salary of around £50,550. A good salary for important government work… although potentially not as important to the Treasury as the Government Internal Audit Agency’s “Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Advisor“, who was offered £53,324 late last year. The House of Lords’ Head of Inclusion and Diversity was offered even more, at a generous £66,440 per annum.
Conor Holohan, media campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said:
“Taxpayers are tired of Whitehall’s misplaced priorities, with bureaucrats favouring diversity non-jobs over positions of critical importance”
In the civil service diversity is more valued than security…
