Mick Hartley

Yes, Stonewall is still at it, drawing up new guidance for hundreds of organisations vying for spots on its prestigious 'workplace equality index':

Stonewall is urging employers to let staff have two email addresses to swap gender identities on different days, The Telegraph can reveal.

The contentious LGBT charity has drawn up new guidance for hundreds of organisations vying for spots on its “workplace equality index” (WEI), one of the UK's largest benchmarking schemes.

This newspaper has obtained the form that employers must submit for Stonewall’s 2023 index, with each question marked by the charity in return for a ranking score on its “top 100 employers” league table or a bronze, silver or gold award.

But MPs have branded it “frankly absurd” and “extremely concerning”, with an ex-minister calling on the Government to ensure taxpayer cash is not wasted.

Last year’s top 100 Stonewall WEI, which is free, included six Government departments, NHS England, six regional NHS bodies, four police forces, three fire services and 10 universities.

One question on the 2023 form asks how employers “enable non-binary employees to have their identities recognised on all employee-facing workplace systems”.

In guidance beneath the question, Stonewall says “you will receive more marks if at least one example is specific to gender fluid people, for example the ability to have multiple passcards with different forms of gender expression or linked email accounts/intranet accounts with different names and photos”.

That sounds very sensible – and secure. Lots of IDs, depending on how you feel that day: sad, gender-fluid, Hawaiian, like a stuffed aubergine…

Hitting out at the “radical ideological scheme”, Miriam Cates, a Tory MP and member of the Commons education committee, added: “This guidance is frankly absurd and it is extremely concerning that major employers are seeking to adhere to it.

“Any policy that allows employees to have multiple identities is clearly open to abuse, quite apart from being completely unworkable in practice.

“This has nothing to do with equality and everything to do with trying to deny the biological and social reality that sex is binary and men and women are different.”

Other questions on the new 40-page form ask employers whether they "do not award the contract" or "require improvements as a condition of contract" to potential suppliers that "do not meet LGBTQ+ inclusion scrutiny".

If a contract is awarded to a supplier, Stonewall suggests they could "include a broad diversity and inclusion slot in contract monitoring meetings”.

The document also asks whether bodies have a "formal commitment to introduce gender-neutral facilities in all buildings" and "support all cis employees (including lesbian gay and bi employees) to become trans allies through training, programmes and/or resources".

Well they're going down fighting, I'll give them that.