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Kemi Badenoch: Britain’s diversity drive has backfired
Number of employment tribunals hearing cases brought under the Equality Act has seen a notable uptick, writes Business Secretary
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Britain’s diversity drive has been “counterproductive” and done little to reduce prejudice despite millions being spent on inclusivity initiatives, Kemi Badenoch has said.
The Business Secretary commissioned a report which found that the majority of spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) was a waste of money.
The report calls on bosses to take into account disadvantages faced by the white working classes when shaping diversity schemes, rather than focusing on “visible” quotas.
It comes amid a wider government crackdown on wasteful diversity schemes, with Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, using his Budget earlier this month to urge councils to cut spending on such policies and Rishi Sunak appointing a “common sense minister”.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mrs Badenoch, who is also equalities minister, says: “The new report shows that, while millions are being spent on these initiatives, many popular EDI practices – such as diversity training – have little to no tangible impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice.
“In fact, many practices have not only been proven to be ineffective, they have also been counterproductive.”
She adds: “No group should ever be worse off because of companies’ diversity policies – whether that be black women, or white men ... Performative gestures such as compulsory pronouns and rainbow lanyards are often a sign that organisations are struggling to demonstrate how they are being inclusive.”
Expensive schemes
Mrs Badenoch commissioned the independent Inclusion at Work Panel last year to investigate whether EDI was working in Britain amid concerns that too much money was being spent on the schemes.
Diversity training aims to help staff understand the types of discrimination, including direct, indirect, harassment and victimisation, and how to treat others with respect.
But the Business Secretary claimed that it had little impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice, pointing out that the number of employment tribunals hearing cases brought under the Equality Act had seen a “notable uptick”.
Experts also said that the “well-intentioned” attempts to boost visible diversity could lead to organisations breaking the law by discriminating against white candidates for jobs.
They found that one in four business leaders said their approach to diversity was reactive, such as being “in response to societal events like the Black Lives Matter protests” that started in 2020.
The report recommended that bosses avoid diversity schemes which alienate certain groups – such as the white working class – cause division, and have no impact. It called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission to clarify the legal status for employers in relation to diversity and inclusion practice.
It also urged bosses to take into account disadvantages faced by the working classes when shaping diversity schemes, concluding: “Employers must also consider less visible diversity, including socioeconomic and educational background.”
Mrs Badenoch – who last year said that Britain was “the best country in the world to be black” – hits out at “snake oil” diversity schemes and tells firms that their equality strategies must uphold “fairness and meritocracy”.
She says some firms had broken the law under the guise of diversity and inclusion by “censoring beliefs or discriminating against certain groups in favour of others”.
“The report finds that, in some cases, employers are even inadvertently breaking the law under the guise of diversity and inclusion by censoring beliefs or discriminating against certain groups in favour of others,” she says.
“This Government believes that EDI policies should unite rather than alienate employees, and crucially uphold fairness and meritocracy.”
The report cited the example of Cheshire Police, which in 2019 had to pay out £100,000 after being found to have discriminated against a white applicant on the grounds of sexual orientation, race and gender.
RAF discrimination
The panel also highlighted the RAF’s discrimination against white men as part of its drive to improve diversity. Last year, it admitted that initiatives to increase the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities had led to unlawful positive discrimination.
An internal inquiry was sparked by the resignation of a female RAF group captain who told her superiors the policy penalised white men. The inquiry found that she had faced significant and unreasonable pressure to meet diversity targets.
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that military personnel wanted to relax clearance checks for ethnic minority officers in a push to hit diversity targets.
Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, said the findings showed a “woke” and “extremist culture” had been allowed to infiltrate the Army.
The independent panel said firms should ensure that the number of EDI staff they had represented “value for money”, pointing out that the UK appointed twice as many as any other country.
Freedom of Information requests submitted in 2022 to 6,000 public bodies including the NHS found they employed around 10,000 diversity and inclusion staff, at a cost of £557 million a year to the taxpayer.
Mrs Badenoch is considering a further crackdown on EDI spending in government, with a possible new rule that external consultants should not run such schemes.
It comes after Mr Hunt told government departments last year to sack diversity managers if they wanted to bring in more staff, saying: “Smashing glass ceilings is everyone’s job – not a box to be ticked by hiring a diversity manager.”
Pamela Dow, the chairman of the independent panel, from think tank Civic Future, said: “It has been a privilege to work with such expert colleagues, united in the goal of fairness and belonging in the workplace. Our aim was to support leaders in all sectors to spend time and money well.
“The insights from our wide discussions show how we can build a useful evidence base, track data, improve confidence and trust, and reduce burdens, for organisations across the UK.”