Latest news with #DiversityChampions
Scotsman
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
SNP Government has 'no plans' to cut ties with Stonewall after Supreme Court trans ruling
The Scottish Conservatives say SNP ministers are 'in thrall' with Stonewall despite the charity spreading 'misinformation'. Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Scottish Government says it has 'no plans' to withdraw from a Stonewall scheme despite the charity being accused of spreading 'misinformation' about the Supreme Court trans ruling. The Government is part of the LGBT+ charity's Diversity Champions initiative. For an annual fee of £3,000, members are ranked on their inclusion policies by Stonewall's workplace equality index. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In 2021 it was revealed employers were given a higher score on this index for demonstrating pro-trans policies such as removing 'gendered language'. The Charity Commission welcomed the ruling that went against transgender rights group Mermaids. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images |Several Whitehall departments, including the Home Office and HM Treasury, left the scheme over the charity's stance on gender ideology earlier this year. The Scottish Conservatives say the decision shows how 'out of touch' SNP ministers are, particularly after Stonewall claimed the Supreme Court judgement was 'not law as of yet', despite the Equality and Human Rights Commission saying the ruling has 'immediate effect'. Last month the Supreme Court ruled the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex only. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tess White, the Scottish Conservatives' equalities spokeswoman, said: 'It is shocking that SNP ministers remain in thrall to this organisation who are peddling misinformation about a ruling from the highest court in the land. 'Rather than strengthening ties with Stonewall, they should be cutting them. This decision confirms how out of touch SNP ministers remain on these issues. 'Various organisations have shown common sense and withdrawn from this programme in recent years, including the Scottish Parliament itself, as well as the BBC and the EHRC.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tess White MSP has expressed her concerns. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: 'The First Minister has been clear that the Scottish Government accepts the judgement of the Supreme Court. 'We are committed to supporting LGBTQI+ people, including through funding for Stonewall to advance equality for this group. This is particularly important at a time when we are seeing a rise in attacks against the LGBTQI+ community.' A Stonewall spokesman said its workplace inclusion programmes were the 'gold standard for employers that want to embed equality for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace'. The organisation said: 'Now that the ruling has been made by the Supreme Court we, along with many others, are highlighting the importance of considering its wide-ranging implications.
Daily Mail
04-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
University students are 'told not to ask a person's pronouns' in case it's triggering
Students at Liverpool University have now been told asking someone for their pronouns is not inclusive and could be triggering. In new diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) guidance, obtained by The Telegraph, students and staff at the Russel Group university were warned asking someone to disclose their pronouns could make them feel pressured to 'out themselves' as transgender. It reads: 'When you first meet someone, you don't want to ask about their pronouns,' the guidance reads. 'This could make them feel like you're asking them to out themselves as transgender, agender, or non-binary, which they might not want to do, particularly if you work in a conservative office.' Liverpool University, which has been part of the Diversity Champions scheme at controversial transgender charity Stonewall since 2009, told students they should instead introduce themselves with their own pronouns. According to the guidance this is 'an important indicator of support for trans and non-binary people' and by 'sharing your own pronouns, you're allowing the other person to share theirs, but not forcing them to'. It says 'this small action' can make the environment more 'inclusive for everyone to work and study no matter their gender'. Staff are told to put have their pronouns in their email signature and to mention them when they introduce themselves whilst also only referring to students as 'they/them' until they have confirmed their pronouns. Both staff and students are told the phrase 'preferred pronouns' is 'incorrect' and should not be used because the word 'preferred' suggests someone's gender 'is a preference'. The guidance says declaring pronouns is a 'personal decision' and people should not be forced to share them but adds that ;it can make a real difference in reassuring' trans, non-binary, and LGBQT+ staff and students 'they are welcome and accepted'. It also says switching to 'gender-neutral pronouns' for everyone 'ultimately doesn't require too much effort' but could make 'a huge difference in creating a warmer, more inclusive workplace environment for everyone'. The general secretary for the Free Speech Union, Lord Young, told The Telegraph the guidance demonstrate that 'what is politically correct in the trans community changes every 10 minutes'. He added that it feels 'a bit 2024' in light of the Supreme Court judgement and suggested universities stop issuing these guides as 'they cannot hope to keep up'. Director of campaign group Don't Divide Us, Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, told the publication as 'human beings' we are able to speak to each other and can work out 'difference, hurts and offences' on our own without needing 'approval or gold stars'. She added it is an 'elemental freedom of being a free citizen in a democratic society' and that 'policing this, in whatever guise, encourages authoritarianism'. A spokesman for the University of Liverpool told The Telegraph: 'We are fundamentally committed to the wellbeing of all our staff and students, and proud to be a diverse, welcoming and inclusive community. 'This guidance - which is not mandatory - is intended to support inclusive communication and sits within our broader efforts to foster a respectful and supportive environment.'
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE After the Prime Minister's years of dithering over the true definition of a woman, a new biography reveals that Keir Starmer's ex-girlfriend is a pro-trans judge
Sir Keir Starmer had a long-term romance with a judge who has been accused of being influenced by trans activists, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. A new biography of the Prime Minister reveals that before meeting his wife, Victoria, Sir Keir spent 'years' in a relationship with Maya Sikand KC, a high-flying barrister who now works as a part-time Crown Court judge. Six years ago, Ms Sikand, 55, was at the centre of a legal row at the chambers where she worked, with a colleague claiming in court papers that she was part of a group that 'explicitly endorsed the trans rights agenda'. Last week, Sir Keir U-turned on his previously stated belief that 'trans women are women' in the eyes of the law. He reversed his stance following a Supreme Court ruling that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. Ms Sikand last night said she was proud to represent people of all circumstances, saying impartiality is a 'cornerstone' of her legal work and that her work has included 'numerous cases advancing the rights of women and girls'. Red Flag, the updated Starmer biography by former Tory Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, says that Sir Keir became 'close' to Ms Sikand after she took a pupillage at his Doughty Street chambers in 1998. The book, which is being serialised exclusively in today's Mail on Sunday and tomorrow's Daily Mail, quotes a contemporary as saying: 'It was an open secret that Maya was having a relationship with him. 'I remember sitting in a restaurant with some barrister colleagues when Keir sent her a text message and she passed her phone around and showed it to some of those present. 'She was smitten.' The book also reports one of Starmer's acquaintances as saying that Sir Keir and Ms Sikand saw each other 'for years', and both later contributed to a legal textbook, Blackstone's Criminal Practice, published in 2008. Another source is quoted as saying: 'Maya still likes him a lot even though his treatment of her left a lot to be desired.' In 2019, Ms Sikand was at the centre of a furious trans rights row which rocked Garden Court, the legal chambers where she worked for more than 20 years. Ms Sikand was tasked with investigating fellow Garden Court barrister Allison Bailey over a series of comments Ms Bailey had posted on Twitter about transgender issues. Garden Court, which is known for fighting Left-wing causes, was a member of the Stonewall group's controversial Diversity Champions scheme. Critics claim that companies and public bodies who sign up to the £2,500-a-year initiative are encouraged to embrace the charity's ideology of transgender self-identification. Ms Bailey's tweets included criticism of Stonewall's campaign. In one, she thanked The Times newspaper for 'fairly & accurately reporting on the appalling levels of intimidation, fear & coercion that are driving the @stonewalluk trans self-id agenda'. Stonewall complained and, following her probe, Ms Sikand said two of the tweets could have contravened conduct rules. Ms Bailey was told to delete them. Ms Sikand's findings were bitterly contested by Ms Bailey and, in a landmark ruling in 2022, an employment tribunal found that Garden Court had victimised and discriminated against Ms Bailey because of her gender-critical beliefs. In her evidence to the tribunal, Ms Bailey claimed Ms Sikand 'did not conduct her report independently' and that she later discovered that Ms Sikand was a member of Garden Court's 'trans rights working group' (TRWG). Ms Bailey, a friend of gender-critical author JK Rowling, said the group's existence demonstrated how the chambers had 'explicitly endorsed the trans rights agenda'. In 2018 the TRWG invited a radical trans rights activist group called Gendered Intelligence to train barristers 'on creating an inclusive environment for trans people'. Ms Bailey said in her evidence: 'Whether or not Maya Sikand is 'independent minded'... she did not conduct her report independently. She may not have undertaken work for Stonewall, but she was part of the Trans Rights Working Group.' In one comment to another lawyer about some of Ms Bailey's tweets, Ms Sikand said: 'Given that we are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, I do not think she should be maligning them.' The employment tribunal also appeared to question Ms Sikand's impartiality. It said that although 'initially neutral', Ms Sikand's 'hostility' to some of Ms Bailey's tweets 'seems to have been influenced by Garden Court being a Diversity Champion'. In a statement to the MoS last night, Ms Sikand said: 'Impartiality is not only a cornerstone of the approach to my practice in combating discrimination but also demonstrated through a caseload which includes numerous cases advancing the rights of women and girls as well as a wider range of issues. 'I remain privileged to be able to advocate for people from all backgrounds, beliefs, and circumstances, and will not be drawn on details taken out of context.' Last week, this newspaper revealed that Sir Keir's ministers were in revolt over his new-found backing for the Supreme Court's judgment. In leaked WhatsApp messages, ministers vowed to 'organise' following the ruling that men who change gender are not legally women. In one exchange, Culture Minister Sir Chris Bryant joined an attack on Baroness Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who had said the ruling meant trans women could not use single-sex female facilities or compete in women's sports. Sir Keir met his wife, Victoria Alexander, a solicitor, when they were working on a case together. They married in 2007. Indian-born Ms Sikand moved to the UK in 1980 and was educated at Moira House, a private school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and Oxford University. After a pupillage at Doughty Street chambers, where she allegedly had her relationship with Sir Keir, Ms Sikand forged a career as a leading human rights barrister. She worked on the 1998 Macpherson Inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and is an expert on immigration law and modern slavery. In 2018 she was appointed as a Recorder, a part-time criminal judge.
