Damaging Political Correctness

We covered a story in January which highlighted that Avon and Somerset Fire Brigade held 5 open days and banned white men from all but 1 of them. This was done in the name of "positive action" which is legal in the UK. It now transpires that there was only 1 new ethnic minority recruit as a result. Philip Davies, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, 'This is an entirely predictable outcome,' he added. 'People try and flex their politically-correct muscles and at the end of the day it is a waste of time and money. Not only has this - no doubt well-meaning - initiative been totally misguided but it hasn't delivered the results. The only way we are ever going to have complete equality in the job market is to give people jobs based on merit, regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation.' A serving firefighter said: “This has a very negative effect on everyone because when you see an ethnic firefighter you think they only got the job because of their origin. It’s not helpful to people from black and ethnic communities.” Batook Pandya, director of Bristol-based charity Support Against Racist Incidents, also criticised the recruitment drive. He said: “None of these open days should have been closed to white communities. I couldn’t give two hoots if they are white, black, Asian, male or female – they should be the best person for the job.” Click here for the story in the Daily Mail and here for the story in the Daily Express.

Gateshead Council were approached by a local resident who asked if the late Harry Letch, who was a local historian, could be remembered in a street name. When a development was completed it seemed the ideal opportunity. Gateshead Council’s head of transport and highways Nick Clennett has now, however, said, "A resident of Letch Mews informed us of the distress caused when the name is misconstrued. We are reviewing it.”

A football fan in Wiltshire says police ordered him to remove an England flag from his car – because it could be deemed to be racist. M r Smith, of Melksham, Wiltshire, said: “I honestly could not believe what the police officer was saying. He wasn’t rude about it at all. He was just very matter-of-fact about the flag being racist and offensive to immigrants.” Mr Smith, an avid England football fan, said he used the flag to cover up a new set of speakers, which he wanted to hide from would-be thieves.

To see the story in the Daily Express click here or in the Daily Star click here.

The Environment Agency is offering another training contract along the lines of race. The job in Tewkesbury - which was hit by very bad floods not so long ago - is being advertised in local papers and online. The ethnic minority population of Tewkesbury is around 1.5% compared to a national average of around 8%!

A serial rapist serving a life sentence in a hospital's secure mental unit (who escaped for the second time in three years) was apparently able to do so as he was described as a "medium secure patient" and, when he was transferred to another hospital for treatment, staff did not understand the risk he posed. The inquiry report into the incident concluded, "Consideration therefore is required as to how we portray or use common language whilst remaining sensitive to the patient's treatment needs." Click here for the story in the Daily Mail.

The Arts Council asks those applying for grants personal questions about their sexual orientation
4 April 2008

The collection of data has never been more intrusive and pointless than the latest request from the Arts Council to those applying for funding from the body. There is a section on application forms which asks about the sexual orientation of those on the Board of the organisation and the justification for this is apparently so that the Arts Council can understand who their audience is. They said, "We see diversity as broader than race, ethnicity, faith and disability." Oscar-nominated actor Sir Ian McKellen, who is openly gay, said, "It sounds extraordinary. It shouldn’t be on a form. It’s quite inappropriate." Vanessa Redgrave, the actress and human rights campaigner, said, "Everyone should put down ‘trisexual’, whoever you are. Britain has become the world’s leading population of trisexuals." Maggi Hambling, the painter who describes herself as "queer", said, "It’s insidious, insulting and quite outrageous for the Arts Council to consider anyone’s sexual orientation of any kind to be their business. It appears to be somewhat Hitlerian in its suggestion that grants will be given if, among the applicants, there is a nice smattering of dykes and queers." To read the whole story in the Times click here.

Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling on the Arts Council to stop this request for personal information and you can see the full EDM and the current MP signatories by clicking here. The motion reads as follows:

That this House deplores the Arts Council's decision to ask intrusive and irrelevant questions about the sexual orientation of those applying for grants; believes that this should be a private matter and not something that individuals should be asked to reveal; considers that sexual orientation should be completely irrelevant in modern day Britain; notes that the idea of putting people into stereotypical tick boxes is an example of political correctness which is opposed by 80 per cent. of the people in Britain in an ICM poll; urges the Arts Council to take serious note of the many objections raised by eminent actors and actresses who find this both offensive and insulting; and calls on the Arts Council to end the request for this highly personal information immediately.

Philip Davies MP also raised this issue in the House of Commons with the following exchange with Harriet Harman on 3 April 2008 (link to Hansard source is here):

Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): May we have a topical debate on political correctness at the Arts Council, in particular the subject of my early-day motion 1318, with regard to the Arts Council request that people should disclose their sexual orientation on the application form for funding. I hope that the Leader of the House will agree with me that people’s sexual orientation should be a private matter, not something that public bodies ask to be disclosed before public money is given. May we have a debate on this important matter?

Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley) (Lab): What adaptations her Department has made to its public procurement policies and practices and its guidance to local authorities to take account of the gender equality duty. [197691]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Parmjit Dhanda): Communities’ procurement policy emphasises to practitioners and stakeholders the importance of focusing on a raft of social themes, including gender equality. Local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions, subject to their legal duties, including the duty of best value and public procurement law.

Thankfully, Sir Patrick Cormack was on hand to give his opinion on the subject too:

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Will the Minister accept that the politically correct gobbledegook to which we have just listened is incomprehensible to most people in this country? Will he assure me that the guidance will be written in English, and will he try to address the House in that language in future?

The Orange Prize for female authors has been criticised (rightly) for being sexist as men are not allowed to apply. Whilst we at the Campaign believe that there are times when the separation of the sexes is better for both sides (e.g. sporting events such as running competitions and games of rugby etc etc) what is different about this prize is that there is no equivalent male prize and, if anyone dared to suggest such a thing, the entire force of the Equalities industry would be down on them like a ton of bricks. So why is it OK to have a female-only competition when a male-only competition would be outlawed? Surely this is sexist? It is not as if there aren't any female authors around is it? But then, of course, sexism towards men doesn't really count in the eyes of the ever-growing Equalities industry because, surprise surprise, they are sexist themselves. To read the views of male novelist, Tim Lott, on this subject click here.

Avon and Somerset Fire Brigade held 5 open days and banned white men from all but 1 of them. This was done in the name of "positive action" which is legal in the UK. Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: “This sort of thing just makes people’s blood boil and does more damage than good to race relations. How would people react if women and black people were banned from an open day? I don’t care whether the fire service is only made up of ethnic minority women – as long as they are the best people at fighting fires. If the Chief Fire Officer is so concerned, he should give up his job to an ethnic minority woman instead of depriving other white men of a job."

Click below for the excellent editorial in the Daily Express in pdf format which really does say it all.

A book based on the story of The Three Little Pigs has been judged unsuitable because of "concerns about the Asian community" and because "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".

Whilst this is clearly not true and only likely to damage good community relations this appears to have been the message that has gone out from the Bett Award judges.

To read the full story on the BBC website click here or in the Daily Express click here.

A couple were told that they could not take photos of their own daughter in a park in Oldham by a park official as it was "illegal to take pictures of children in the park". Even though they explained that it was their own daughter they wanted to photograph they were still not allowed to do so. Click here for the full story in the Daily Mail.

Mark Pritchard MP led a debate yesterday in Parliament on the subject of the continuous attacks on the Christian religion. Click here to read the debate in full on Parliament's website.

Click here for an introduction to the debate on the BBC website and here for details from Mark Pritchard's website.

The words of the national anthem are not "inclusive enough" according to Lord Goldsmith who is leading a Citizenship Review for Gordon Brown. He said in an interview, "Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are different words that might be put in place which would be more inclusive."

Click here for the story on the Sky News website.

Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, called on Harriet Harman yesterday in the House of Commons to abolish the position of Minister for Women or, to be fair, appoint a Minister for Men.

Philip Davies (Shipley): Does the Minister agree that we should be concerned equally about all prisoners with mental health problems, whether they be men or women? And if she really believes in equality between men and women, will she abolish her politically correct position, or at least create a Minister for men?

Transport for London are offering training positions where applicants need to be "Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic". Apparently these groups are "under-represented" and so this position excludes white people - although even this is not clear from the confusion over race. In London with so many nationalities etc there are bound to be groups that are not "represented" whatever this word really means and it is of great concern that this form of racism is legal.

Click here for the details on the Transport for London website or here for a pdf version of the page.

If you come across any other examples of this sort of blatant racism please let us know!

Lancashire Police have been criticised for losing all sense of proportion after local newspaper the Ormskirk Advertiser reported that they had swooped on a West Lancashire shop after a complaint over ‘racist’ golly dolls.

The newspaper reported that officers seized two of the dolls from In Touch furniture shop in Wrightington when a woman complained after spotting the soft toys in the shop.

Shop owner Gavin Alexander was warned he faced possible criminal charges under the Public Order Act for selling the Golly Rag dolls and keyrings. Mr Alexander said that police took a statement from him, photographed the dolls and confiscated two as evidence.

However, they have since decided that Mr Alexander is not breaking the law and he will not face charges.

Adrian Owens, Lancashire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said “Political correctness is reaching its tentacles into West Lancashire. It's bad enough that some member of the public is so indoctrinated as to feel offended by these dolls, but for the police to waste time taking up the complaint underlines what is wrong with so much of the Britain - a country where victimhood is encouraged and freedoms curtailed. I'm glad that this shopkeeper has not been intimidated into withdrawing these golly dolls from sale."

The Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP, has tabled a Motion in Parliament calling on the Government to take action to eradicate political correctness. Why not ask your MP if they are prepared to sign this motion and - if they won't - perhaps you would like to ask them why not seeing as 80% of people in Britain (according to an official poll commissioned by the Campaign) are fed up with political correctness. It is time politicians started to act in the interests of the majority of people who are fed up with political correctness.

Click here to see which MPs have signed the Early Day Motion in Parliament calling for the Government to take steps to eradicate political correctness.

Jeffrey Donaldson MP used Prime Minister's Question Time to highlight the persecution of Christians in Britain. His question - which was answered by the Deputy Prime Minister on this occasion - was as follows:

Q6. [104559] Mr. Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP): In an age when employees of our national airline cannot even display a Christian cross without being suspended from their employment, is there not a case for saying that Christians in this country find themselves increasingly under pressure? With the sexual orientation regulations, many Christian leaders are speaking out against what the Government are doing in putting the Christian Church under pressure. In Northern Ireland, those regulations are being imposed against the wishes of the vast majority of people in that part of the United Kingdom. Is it not time that the Government caught themselves on and started to listen to the majority in this country, who are fed up with being discriminated against as Christians?

The Deputy Prime Minister: I am not a religious man, but I always understood that religion was about tolerance. There is not much tolerance being shown in what the hon. Gentleman has said. It is a pity that we do not show more tolerance to different cultures and different religions. We would be a lot better off for it.

As Jeffrey Donaldson pointed out on Question Time tonight our heritage is being "buried in political correctness" and the intolerance is actually being shown to Christians. It seems that it is alright to be tolerant of everyone except Christians and - as the quote goes - we're seeing "great intolerance shown in support of tolerance".

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was under pressure for not giving a full apology for Britain's role in the slave trade yesterday and for not promising reparation to descendants of slaves. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "For an apology to mean anything it really needs to be from the person who did the act to the person who suffered. Since none of us are 200 years old any apology is meaningless. In fact, it is high time that we shook off the guilt complex that so many would like us to have. Britain led the way in abolishing slavery and if people really want to mark the occasion they should put their efforts into ridding this country of the slavery it still shamefully has in the form of illegal immigrants - e.g. from Eastern Europe and North Africa - who are trafficked into the country and are forced to work as sex slaves for unscrupulous bosses. More effort should be put into rooting out illegal "people trafficking" which finds people being forced to live in inhumane conditions day and night and is a scandalous form of modern day slavery".

British Airways has said that it is going to re-consider its ban on the cross necklace worn by staff following the case of employee, Nadia Eweida. Serious public pressure was brought to bear on British Airways causing them to issue this statement.

A poster which says "Pride and Prejudice and Niggas" to promote a comedy show by black comedian Reginald D Hunter has been banned by London Underground. Reginald D Hunter and fellow comic Leo Muhammed took part in an interview on BBC London News to discuss the word from their opposing points of view.

Click here for further information on the BBC London website and if you click the link on the top right you should be able to actually listen to the very interesting and lively discussion. Some interesting highlights from Reginald Hunter are below but it is worth listening to the whole interview.

Reginald D Hunter said: I think good stand up comedy promotes discussion and this is promoting discussion. It is offensive to some and for others it is not. I don't have the right to tell him [Leo Muhammed] how he should feel about the word any more than he has the right to tell me. We do both have the right to operate our lives in any way we choose. To hold onto the word in that point of view in terms of its history and ugliness that it has is to believe that it we have birthright to allow it to still hurt you. The word like the rest of our language is evolving ... these kids that are coming along they don't have the same attitudes towards language and sex that we seem to be wanting them to have. I wasn't using the word to describe any race of people. In fact the problem here is whether or not we can even say the word.

The Commission for Racial Equality is to investigate a reprint of the 1939 Dandy Annual as the publishers did not edit out "offensive" language.

The Campaign Against Political Correctness said the reproduction of terms used in a bygone age did not reinforce prejudice.

John Midgley said: 'Whilst language does evolve and change over time the fact that you can purchase these books and annuals in antique bookshops and over the internet makes these steps completely unnecessary. The rewriting of history and old books is all part and parcel of the current tide of political correctness in this country.'

Comic collector Josh Lennon said: 'Shakespeare contains negative portrayals of Jews and blacks but no-one is going to insist his material is rewritten. I think adult collectors, which is the market this annual is aimed at, will understand the historical context.'

In response to the disbelief shown by Liberal Democrat Councillor, Ian Robinson, during a mediation interview about the potential offence of the term "Paki", Pendle Council's Labour Leader, Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, said that he saw the term as an abbreviation, not an insult. He said: "When my parents arrived in Britain I think it was just an abbreviation. It was seen as against political correctness in the 90s, but personally I don't find it a derogatory term. A small number may see it like that, but we have moved on in Pendle and in Britain as a whole."

Pendle's Conservative Leader, Councillor Tony Beckett, said, "As with all words, it all depends on the context."

Cllr David Clutterbuck - the Councillor at the centre of the e-mail trouble over a funny Noah's Ark spoof - has received confirmation that the Standards Board will not be investigating the 2 separate complaints made against him as they say there has been no potential breach of the code of conduct. The Chief Executive of Bournemouth Council has also issued instructions that any reference to Cllr Clutterbuck making unacceptable remarks should be deleted immediately from the Council's website.

Cllr Clutterbuck who, since the whole episode, has joined the Campaign Against Political Correctness, hailed the decision as "a victory for common sense and free speech".

Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Councillor Clutterbuck has been put through an awful ordeal of which our country should be ashamed. The fact that it has had to be the Standards Board - of all bodies - to clear Councillor Clutterbuck is really quite disgraceful. Most people in this country have a great sense of humour and it is just a shame that those who don't have a sense of humour hold the positions they hold - for they are the ones who are causing the antagonism between different groups of people - as a result of trying to be politically correct - not individuals like Councillor Clutterbuck".

Click here to read the story in the Dorset Daily Echo.

An accusation of racism centering on black jelly babies has finally come to an end after a trial at a cost of £250,000. The tube workers at the centre of the accusations were cleared after an internal investigation and have now been cleared after a trial at Middlesex Crown Court. One of the claims made as that one of the tube workers gave his black colleague a bag of jelly babies but he took offence as there were "too many black ones" in the packet. After the ordeal which lasted two and a half years, one of the accused, Victor Cooney, said, "The verdict is a victory for common sense" and that trial had been a "waste of taxpayer's money".

Kirklees Council was attacked last night for enforcing its "very own thought police" – and far from defending it, the authority's new leader piled in with criticism of his own and said the policy would be scrapped. Robert Light, the new council leader, used one of the banned terms himself when he told the Yorkshire Post that some of his authority's policies were "overzealous political correctness", before blaming the previous administration and pledging to revise them.

Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, called the policy "extreme and patronising". He went on to say, "How much is it costing to produce all this garbage? The policy is full of either the blindingly obvious or utterly ridiculous nonsense."

Officials responsible for devising the document – a training workbook entitled Equality Essentials that represents the council's policy – adapted a 1950s study into the social psychology of Nazi Germany called Allport's Scale to compare levels of harassment and bullying in the workplace.

The document says there are five steps on the scale. The fourth most serious category, "physical attack", places kicking, punching and overtly racist or sexist language alongside "moving things on a person's desk".

Click below to see one of the many extracts from the document dealing with the definition of political correctness. Their origin of the term is completely wrong - in fact the first use of the term was thought to have been in the US Supreme Court as early as 1793 so only 200 years out of date!!!

Click here for the full story in the Yorkshire Post.
Click here for the story in the Daily Mail (pdf).
Click here for the story in the Daily Telegraph.
Click here for the story in The Times.
Click here for the story in the Evening Standard.

English Heritage to rewrite the histories of its properties to include slavery
29 October 2006

As part of a project to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery by Britain in 2007, a research team will investigate the slavery connections of all English Heritage's 400-plus properties. Any new material will be included in guide books or shown on display panels. More controversially, it will also carry out a similar investigation of "a sample" of the 400,000 private listed buildings it supervises in England. Any new "slavery" information will be added to the official register of listed buildings held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP, attacked the project as 'politically correct hand-wringing.' 'Perhaps they will hand over these properties to groups in Africa as reparation,' he said.

'I have no qualms about understanding as much as possible about our heritage but this smacks of politically correct hand wringing - apologising for all our past histories. There was a lot of good done by the British Empire, spreading democracy and the rule of law around the world, which we should be proud of. I hope English Heritage will find the time to focus on some of that as well as looking for every opportunity to apologise.'

Mr Davies dismissed attempts to sue U.S. and British companies for compensation for the slave trade as 'nonsense', saying: 'Where do you draw the line? Should countries conquered by the Roman Empire apply to the Italian Government for compensation?'

Click here for further details of English Heritage's plans in the Daily Telegraph.

"Multiculturalism no longer provides the right answer to the complex nature of today's race relation issues," wrote Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, in 2004. In this piece, Lee Rotherham, London Mayoral race, analyses where we stand today in the wake of the muslim veil debate.

Click here to read the full article in Word format.
Click here to read the full article in pdf format.

Glasgow City Council is responsible for the latest language guide to to be issued to staff. It is, in part, a re-iteration of all the rubbish we have already seen - outlawing terms such as "ladies", "pet", "dear", "love" and "duck". It also contains important missives such as:

"Some words and phrases such as 'manpower' and 'man the office' exclude or ignore women. Use inclusive terms like 'staff' and 'workers' and 'staff the office'."

Entrepreneur Michelle Mone said: "Councils and government are making it impossible to run businesses and then they come out with nonsense like this. These people with their sandals and their flowery dresses - they need to get a life and stop wasting people's time. If someone doesn't like being called 'love' in a workforce then the door is open. Go and work somewhere else."

Richard Cook, Scottish Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, added: "Now that this document is in print as a guide to staff it could be used by more zealous managers looking for an excuse to discipline employees."

Click here to see the language guide in full.
Click here to read further examples and the full story from the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.
Click here to read the article in the Daily Record.

Muslim organisation attacks police decision not to make arrests during Ramadan
22 October 2006

Nursery owner speaks about the political correctness which led her to court
13 October 2006

Olive Rack was cleared of assaulting a toddler recently but her experience is a sad sign of the times we now live in. Despite the fact that the mother of the toddler at the centre of the row supported Olive in the handling of her child - who had been hitting a baby at the time of the incident - the matter still went to court. Olive Rack's case has raised some important issues - for example, as she says, how do you teach children right from wrong? Was she supposed to let the toddler carry on hitting the baby? “You’ve got to have some sort of discipline. Children need boundaries, they become insecure without them.” Olive Rack also said, "The case came about because of political correctness. I think common assault needs to be defined, otherwise your are going to have the situation that when someone treads on someone's foot, or holds a child's hand to stop them running in the road, there is a threat of court. It must be when there is intent to harm."

Click here for further information in The Times newspaper.
Click here for further quotes and comments in the Skegness Standard.

A councillor in Bournemouth who added his own comment to the funny Noah sketch that has been doing the rounds has been told that he should apologise and go on compulsory equality training. The e-mail Councillor David Clutterbuck sent in reply said, "I imagine now it would be illegal to only have animals of the opposite sex!”. Of course the whole point of taking two of each animal was so that they could reproduce and this quip was merely a joke based on today's obsession with equality and diversity - which is not even supported, for example, by all those who are gay - see our supporters' own stories.

UPDATE: Cllr Clutterbuck has resigned as a Conservative councillor but has been in touch with us to let us know that he has received over 200 e-mails of support.

The cross worn by Fiona Bruce on the BBC's 10 O'clock News was criticised by a former controller of editorial policy at the BBC who said that the fact that Fiona Bruce had worn a cross while reading the news was a mistake. The issue was apparently also discussed by the BBC and one source said, "It was argued that BBC staff on screen should not wear anything which hints or directly points to a political or religious leaning and that the cross contravened this and should not be allowed."

UPDATE: Fiona Bruce has apparently been told that she can wear the cross as long as it is not too big and not too shiny and she has been seen on TV with it on since this report.

Richmondshire Council in North Yorkshire is banning its staff from sending age-related birthday cards, in advance of the Government’s age discrimination regulations which come into force on 1^st October. So, it’s goodbye to happy 21sts; see you to happy 40ths; and good riddance to happy 60ths.

“This takes the new regulations to extremes even before they actually come in. This extension of institutionalised political correctness is not only counterproductive but it really is miserable. Most people would be pleased if their colleagues remembered that it was a special birthday and there really is absolutely nothing wrong with such birthday cards. Let’s have some common sense from the bureaucrats – whatever their age!”

The Home Secretary, Dr John Reid, yesterday said that it was time we focused on equality of opportunity not equality of outcomes. This is a major break for a politician to make and a very welcome one at that. He also said that he was pleased to be "the first Labour minister to say we need to get away from the daft politically correct notion that discussing this is racist."

In a bizarre twist of fate, leading human rights lawyer, Cherie Blair, has been investigated over the last week for gesturing a mock slap to a cheeky pupil. After the young boy put his arm round her and did a "rabbit ears" hand signal from behind she called him a "cheeky boy" and gave his head a mock slap. Child Protection in Sport officers, who were at the event as a result of this Government's legislation, apparently reported the incident to the police who despatched 6 plain clothes police officers to investigate.

Gulf war veteran told his Union Jack tattoo could be seen as racist
12 September 2006

A man applying to become a police community support officer in Cumbria was deemed to be unsuitable as he had a Union Jack tattoo alongside the words "British Army" below his left shoulder. He was later invited to apply after the matter was brought to the public's attention.

Age Concern have said that they have received a spate of complaints from older workers who have been sacked without warning in recent weeks in the run up to the introduction of age discrimination legislation in October. Yet again this looks - as is so often the pattern with political correctness - like a case of those with good intentions encouraging laws which actually achieve the opposite of what they are supposed to. It is just such a shame that real people's lives are turned upside down needlessly in the process - especially the lives of those who realistically are unlikely to be able to get other jobs at this stage of their life. Age Concern were delighted to welcome legislation previously and even said at the time of the consultation that their main complaint was that it would not be introduced until October 2006! Yet, by their own figures, age discrimination is reportedly up by 200% in advance of the new law and you have to wonder how much damage rather than good this is actually going to end up causing. In addition, higher pay for older employees doing the same job as younger employees could be illegal as - despite their additional experience - this too could be deemed to be age discrimination and long service awards are likely to end too. It is about time people thought through the consequences of legislation properly as, however well meaning it is, adverse consequences are becoming an all too common pattern and new laws are actually hurting the very people they are supposed to be protecting.

Speaking to The Times, Rod Morgan, chairman of the Youth Justice Board, said that it was time to confront the political correctness in schools that prevents teachers from disciplining pupils in the way that they used to — in part because they fear that parents will challenge them and even take legal action.

Mr Morgan went on to give a warning about the number of young children who no longer know how to behave. “What many young children lack are any sort of boundaries being set to their behaviour so that literally they don’t know how to behave properly. There has not been a role model to explain things and to set boundaries. Most children we know like a reasonably structured existence and many don’t have it,” he said.

The end result is, he says, that thousands of children are ending up in court unnecessarily - a very sad reflection on the times in which we live.

Under a new scheme to increase the numbers of ethnic minority staff in businesses, companies bidding for Government contracts will now be required to provide figures of their black and Asian employees and this could affect their bid.

John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said that this was "very dangerous in concept and should be completely unacceptable in modern day Britain." He went on to say, "They are going to use taxpayers' money to force firms to compete with each other along the lines of the colour of their workforces....how incredibly patronising is this to existing and potential ethnic minority employees?"

Potential female police recruit failed for referring to sergeant as "him"
24 July 2006

A 19-year-old potential female police recruit - who had passed her written tests - was asked during her interview what she would do if she needed advice. She replied: "I would go to my sergeant and ask him for help." She apparently then failed the interview for referring to the sergeant as "him", thus revealing her lack of "gender awareness".

Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Whoever made this decision has demonstrated that they have no idea at all about 'gender awareness'. How can they tell this woman that she has a lack of gender awareness based on this? It would have been bad enough if this very thing had happened to a male recruit - and quite possibly it shamefully has - but for this to happen to a woman is beyond belief. In the 43 police forces in the country, there are 17,679 male sergeants and 2,671 female sergeants. Is it really a lack of gender awareness to say the word "him" when, according to the police's own official figures, over 86% of sergeants are men?".

Click here for further details and for an excellent piece written by David Green of Civitas for the Daily Telegraph.

Click here to see the figures on police numbers - figure above taken from table 4 on on page 15.

Christian-run jail course axed for conflicting with diversity policy
21 July 2006

A course at Dartmoor Prison has been axed as it is run by Christians and prison officials were worried that this conflicted with the prison's diversity policies.

98% of people in newspaper poll think positive discrimination is racist
21 July 2006

Following the article in the Daily Star about Brighton and Hove City Council's decision not to allow white people to apply for a job at a local museum (further coverage below), 98% of the newspaper's poll respondents said "Yes" when asked "Is this policy racism in reverse?". Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Racism works both ways. It is just as racist to say that someone can't have a job because they are white as to deny them an opportunity because they are black - or pink, blue or green for that matter. Those implementing this policy may genuinely think that they are trying to make up for some past discrimination but, firstly, this is very misguided, dangerous and unfair on people who had nothing to do with this - if indeed it did ever occur in the first place and, secondly, whatever happened to "Two wrongs don't make a right"?"

The Government Minister responsible for the Countryside Agency's "Diversity Action Review" yesterday revealed in answer to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, that the cost of the project was likely to be £27.74 million. He said that £1.74 million had been spent to date, that the consultation exercise was likely to cost £1 million this year and that the costs of implementing the plan would be in the region of £25 million. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "This is yet another cost to add to the ever-growing politically correct money mountain. It is unbelievable that so much money could be spent on this politically correct project and not on improving services and enjoyment for all regardless of race, age, disability etc".

To read the answer as recorded in Hansard on Parliament's website click here.
To see the summary of the Countryside Agency's project click here.
To view the consultation document "Outdoors For All?" click here.

The Vicar of Tamworth, Reverend Alan Barrett, was investigated by the police, Social Services and the Church of England for kissing a girl on the cheek to congratulate her in front of other children and a teacher as the Chairman of Governors of the William MacGregor School. The mother of the child said that the kiss constituted an assault and, despite Reverend Alan Barrett saying he would not do it again and resigning from the Governing Body immediately, she still insisted on an investigation and said that she wants him removed from his position. Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said "This is just unbelievable. This poor man has had a cloud cast over his whole character for an innocent kiss. If there had been anything remotely sinister about this it would hardly have been done in full view of so many witnesses and it is ludicrous that the police have been called to investigate this matter."

Brighton and Hove City Council have said that applicants for a job at a local museum can't be white. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness said:

"To deny someone a job on the basis of their skin colour is racist. It is very troubling that Brighton and Hove City Council are being blatantly racist on this occasion and more importantly that they do so with the full protection of Race Equality Laws - which are proving very counter-productive to race relations. Brighton and Hove City Council are not alone in pursuing these politically correct and highly discriminatory measures and those who want real fairness and equality of opportunity need to make sure these moves are highlighted and opposed at every opportunity."

This discrimination being perpetuated in the name of political correctness is not just a one off and is happening on a regular basis now. Anyone who is opposed to discrimination should surely be very concerned to know that this sort of thing is a) legal and b) being encouraged. At the end of the day - What is black? (see article below too on this subject) What is white? Why on earth should someone's skin colour matter and be used as a measure of diversity? Isn't diversity about more than this - diversity of talent, ideas, backgrounds, attitudes etc and not just the superficial colour of someone's skin.

Click here to read the story in the Brighton Argus.
Click here to read the story in the Daily Mail.
Click here to read the story in the Daily Telegraph.

Click here for an article in the Daily Telegraph about the colour of skin.

The following exchange took place between Philip Davies MP and the Minister for Women and Equality Ruth Kelly (who is also the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) in the House of Commons yesterday:

Philip Davies: Will the Minister promise the House that in her desire to see more women in senior positions in the medical profession, she will not go down the politically correct route of having quotas, targets and positive discrimination? Will she always hold to the fact that jobs should be given on merit, irrespective of people’s gender?

Ruth Kelly: Of course jobs should be given on merit, but if the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that the majority of female undergraduates who are currently training in medical school should not have the opportunity to have their careers progress at the same rate as men’s, I believe that he is mistaken.

So, equality of opportunity - the fair approach - is deemed less preferable than the unfair system of a fixed outcome thanks to some quota! This is hardly something anyone who believes in trying to get rid of discrimination and unfairness should be encouraging!

Freddie Trueman will not just be remembered for being a sporting legend but for being a straight talking Yorkshireman who had a great dislike of political correctness. Freddie Trueman was completely against political correctness and told the Campaign Against Political Correctness about some of his experiences. On one occasion, he had tried to order a 'black coffee' from a cafe in London only to be told that he could not say 'black coffee' and had to say 'coffee without milk'. He did not waste much time at the cafe - refusing to change his terminology - and eventually left without even ordering. He also fondly remembered his commentator friend who had once used the well known phrase "a chink in the blind" to describe something on air only to find himself being called a racist! We are very sad indeed that Freddie will not be around in the future to fight for common sense - this makes the need for us all to do our bit all the more important.

Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament suggesting that not only should women tennis players not receive equal pay on the grounds that they only play up to 3 sets whereas the men play up to 5 sets, but that the £625,000 which the female winner currently receives should be reduced as it actually represents over 95% of the amount the men's winner receives. No equal pay unless equal play!

Some of those who believe that women should not have equal pay as there is no equal play are as follows - click their names for their comments on the subject:

Click below to see a report of this Early Day Motion in the Evening Standard on 5 July 2006.

Channel 4 have a vacancy for a journalism traineeship but you can only apply if you are disabled. The advert for the job says:

"We would encourage anyone who considers themselves to have a disability to apply for this placement. This would include anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities."

The BBC have appointed an Editorial Executive of Diversity to oversee the way BBC channels represent the audiences they serve. The role will be responsible for reviewing and tracking on-screen content including the portrayal of black and minority ethnic and disabled people. The BBC denies this is about ticking boxes but how will they monitor the performance of this new appointment - by ticking boxes?? To see the press release issued by the BBC click here.

Police officers attack Human Rights Act and promote the use of more common sense in letters
7 June 2006

Click below for the letter dated 7 June 2006 in the Daily Mail attacking the so-called Human Rights Act

Click below for the letter dated 14 June 2006 in the Daily Mail about the lack of common sense in policing

Police in Gloucester brought food and cigarettes to a suspected car thief who refused to come down from the top of a building as they were concerned about his "human rights". As many as 50 police surrounded the building only to find the suspect begin bombarding them with bricks and tiles. Instead of forcing the suspect down, officers sent up a Kentucky Fried Chicken meal and a packet of cigarettes. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: "This is absolutely crazy. You have a man wanted by the police dictating what is going on. It is utterly baffling in this day and age that people are crying out about human rights yet the rights of the victims are all but forgotten. Having the police charge around buying him Kentucky Fried Chicken and cigarettes sends out entirely the wrong message to criminal elements."

Resident and retired Ministry of Defence security guard John Swatton, said, "He’s brought traffic to a standstill and is completely wasting public funds molly-coddling him." He went on to say that the police should train guns on the fugitive to force him down – and save taxpayers’ money. Paul Midgley said, "The police should be law enforcers not baby sitters".

Complaint against DJ Chris Moyles for using the word "gay" rejected
6 June 2006

A complaint against the DJ Chris Moyles for describing a ringtone he did not like as "gay" has been rejected by BBC Governors. In a very interesting admission they said that using the word "gay" to mean "lame" or "rubbish" was widespread among young people. However, the BBC had previously upheld a complaint against the commentator, Brian Moore, who described an ineffectual blow in an altercation between rugby players as a "gay Slap" in February 2004. Will they now reconsider this decision? Click here for the full story on BBC News.

Local councillor calls for abolition of race relations bodies
30 May 2006

A councillor in Dewsbury is calling for the local race bodies to be abolished saying, "All this political correctness comes from Westminster and local people are suffering because of it."

Councillor Karam Hussain went on to say "People want to know why Asian people are getting this kind of special treatment. But Asian people didn't ask for it. They don't want these organisations. Asian people have been living in this area for more than 50 years and are quite able to look after themselves. They don't want to be treated differently. They feel insulted by these groups."

To read the whole story on the Dewsbury Today website click here.

Tribute to hero against political correctness
18 May 2006

The loss of the Rt Hon Eric Forth MP is a real tragedy. Eric was a ardent opponent of political correctness and his contribution to the cause will be greatly missed. We very much hope that his successor in Parliament - whoever they may be - can be half the campaigner and hero that he was.

The Labour Party has apologised for imposing an all-women shortlist on the constituency of Blaenau Gwent before the last election. Blaenau Gwent has served as an excellent example of people's own power to change things. After imposing an all-women shortlist, local long time activist Peter Law decided to stand as an independent in protest and won the seat despite Labour's huge previous majority. Very sadly Peter Law died recently. He was, however, a great champion against political correctness and has left his mark on British politics. He has shown what can happen when people's views and wishes are totally over-ridden. Peter Hain has now said:

"We sought to present a choice of women only and we overrode local party wishes and the wishes of the people of Blaenau Gwent.

Does this mean there won't be any further all-women shortlists? This Government legalised all-women shortlists for Parliamentary selections in 2001 making political parties exempt from the usual sex discrimination laws. Anyone who believes in fairness will agree that if there are sex discrimination laws they should apply to everyone - i.e. both sexes - and that they should not exempt political parties!

A man who sent a complaint about a proposed ugly recycling skip finished off his e-mail with the following poem by the German Martin Niemoller thinking the poem represented what it was trying to say - i.e. that those in a position of authority should speak up for the "little man".

He was understandably surprised to be visited by a policeman and told he could face charges of harrassment if he sent more e-mails like this. He was also not allowed to know who the complainant was. Ironically this poem reflects the position with political correctness too. Individuals and some groups are being persecuted and if we don't stand up and do something before we know it we will be the ones on the wrong side of some politically correct diktat or decision. Luckily, people are not being killed for opposing political correctness in the first instance and there is this Campaign to try and support those who do get persecuted in the second!

MP calls on Government to have a debate on political correctness
20 April 2006

Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, today asked for a Parliamentary debate on political correctness. Mr Davies called on Geoff Hoon to have this debate especially as Government Minister, Margaret Hodge, had "cottoned onto the fact that the actions of this Government has led to an increase in support for the BNP."

From the chamber of the House of Commons, Mr Davies said: "Political correctness has got completely out of hand and many people feel they can no longer have their say on important issues and that has led them to vote for unwelcome parties like the BNP. Perhaps an urgent debate on this issue might actually stop people feeling the need to vote for these unpleasant parties."

But Commons Leader, Geoff Hoon, said: "I have to say I have not detected the slightest sign that anyone is afraid of saying something by reason of so-called political correctness. I simply don't accept what you are saying."

Astounded that Geoff Hoon could not see the problem, Mr Davies said, "The British public aren't obviously wearing the same rose tinted glasses as Mr Hoon and they are well aware of the problems political correctness causes. I will continue my fight against the evil of political correctness".

UPDATE: Click here for piece about Philip Davies' call as reported in The Observer on 23 April 2006.

Sathnam Sanghera of the Financial Times has written an article complaining about the deluge of diversity monitoring forms and the pigeon-holes they try to force people into.

Click here for the full article published by the Commission for Racial Equality's new website/magazine Catalyst.

Det Supt Andy Dalziel said what many police officers have voiced in private (and many more might like to be able to say in public) in a recent episode of the crime drama Dalziel and Pascoe on the BBC. It went something like this:

"For the record I am sick and tired of this sanctimonious political correctness which seems to have its jaws gripped on the Mid Yorkshire force and particularly on this station. I am not afraid to speak out. You all know I am not a racist and contrary to popular belief I am not sexist either. And I am not homophobic. I became a copper because I believe in the freedom of the individual and the freedom of speech and if neither of these things are still on offer then I don't want to be a policeman any longer. There is something deeply disturbing about a society that has its humanity stripped away bit by bit."

Shame he is a fictional policeman and cannot be replicated in senior positions in forces up and down the country for real!

Union forces 2 "black" candidates to be elected to their NEC
16 April 2006

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has a rule which says that if 2 "black" candidates (their description not ours) are not elected onto their National Executive Council by the ballot of members, then the 2 white candidates with the least number of votes - but who otherwise would have been elected - will not be able to take their place and the 2 highest ranking "black" candidates will be automatically put on instead.

Bearing in mind that there are non-white members of the Union, this rule could effectively mean that if they did not want to vote for the candidate with the same colour skin as them that their votes could be over-ruled. The colour "black" is basically anyone who is not white and if people do not give their ethnicity on the form they will be deemed to be white! This is completely racist as the criteria is based purely and simply on the colour of someone's skin and, as Philip Davies MP says in the Sunday Express, this is one of the worst examples of political correctness we've known.

Click here to see the racial group classification page in pdf format and click below for the story in the Sunday Express.

Tiger Woods said that he thought that he had played liked a "spaz" in a live interview recently. Damon Rose, Editor of the BBC's disability website, sums the reaction up perfectly recalling when he called a fellow disabled colleague the same thing a couple of years ago, "a non-disabled colleague had overheard and told me that she found that term offensive and thanked me not to use it in front of her. I was offended that she was offended because I didn't feel it was her place to be offended."

To read the full story click here but below are the comments from Peter White, the BBC's Disability Affairs Correspondent, and Bert Massie, Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, after a survey the Disability Website conducted where three quarters of the people who voted for the most offensive words for disabilities were not, in fact, disabled themselves.

Peter White, BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent - "Looking at the results, it seems that disabled people are more forgiving if there's an element of humour to the word - whereas non-disabled people aren't. I'm always very sceptical when I get letters from people who aren't disabled telling me that they've been offended by a particular word - because where does the offence come from if they haven't been told what to be offended by? It must be a learned response."

Bert Massie, Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission - "I've been called a few words in my time, some of them on the list. Sometimes they come from ignorance, other times they're prompted by pure prejudice. Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they make me laugh. Words can help the way we view the human race. Maybe 'Ouch' should poll readers on the best way we should describe ourselves as disabled people. But whatever words we as disabled people choose to use, we need to be careful that we don't use words or phrases so anodyne that we hide the reality of living in a disabling society. Our words must convey a strong message."

The Campaign Against Political Correctness also recently received a letter from a man who had been told off for referring to himself as a cripple - when as far as he was concerned this is what he was. This just highlights the sheer rudeness, offensiveness, intolerance and nastiness of political correctness. To think that we live in a country where people cannot call themselves what they want without being "corrected". After all the suffering this poor man has to go through on a daily basis - which most of us will never understand nor come close to appreciating - he is then told off like a naughty child. Those who push political correctness down people's throats ought to be ashamed of themselves and those who go along with it really might want to think twice!

Airlines' policy of not seating unaccompanied children by men challenged
14 April 2006

Click the picture below to see an article from the Daily Telegraph with details of a challenge that is being made to airlines' policies of not seating unaccompanied children next to men on flights - a policy which has caused a great deal of upset to male passengers whilst being carried out.

Judge attacks decision to prosecute 10 year old boy for comments
7 April 2006

Judge Jonathan Finestein attacked a decision to prosecute a 10 year old boy for racist comments in Greater Manchester saying "these are boys in a playground - this is nonsense". The boys are apparently now friends and play football with each other. The judge adjourned the case and urged the prosecution to re-consider its decision to go ahead with the charges.

Click here for the story on the BBC's website. Click here to read the story in the Daily Telegraph.

Update: The CPS have now dropped the case (26 April 2006) against the 10 year old boy. Click here for the story in the Daily Telegraph.

Ian Blair will ask Met Police officers to tell him if they are gay
6 April 2006

Ian Blair is to ask officers to let him know if they are gay as part of an "equality monitoring" exercise. Click here to read the story as reported in the Daily Telegraph. He says he has no reason for asking so what is the point? Surely we need to be focussing on having the best police leaving their private lives completely out of the equation - after all why should anyone be encouraged to make their private life public when it has nothing whatsoever to do with the job in hand? Especially if, as Sir Ian says, he has no plans to use the information anyway! Click below to see a letter from John Midgley as published in the Daily Telegraph on the subject.

Some people are so obsessed with the new-fangled concept of "Diversity" that they've lost track of what the word really means. They want diversity at any price but woe betide you if you have a different opinion as they don't usually welcome diversity of opinion!

So, we were delighted to be able to contribute to a new magazine "Diversity Exchange". Whilst many who read the publication will not agree with what we say, we appreciate being able to put forward a diverse view on the subject!

There are times when you think you must have heard it all - but no - yet another unbelievable thing occurs. There are pilot schemes in place it seems - soon to be rolled out all over the country - to encourage more women and ethnic minorities to go fishing. This is apparently in order to attract lottery funding which is obsessed with diversity and equality plans. Click here to see the full story in the Sunday Telegraph.

Click here to read the Environment Agency's publication "10 things you should know about angling" with the gem "Angling is an inclusive sport, it does not discriminate against gender, race, age or athletic ability". What a revelation - who on earth could have thought that fishing did discriminate?

Update: Animal rights activists are now pitted against anti-discrimination campaigners over the proposals!

The General Synod of the Church of England has passed a motion apologising for slavery.