Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph:

LNER spent £58,000 repainting one of its trains with a rainbow-themed Pride livery, it has emerged.

The cost of the Pride rebranding was revealed after a passenger sent a freedom of information (FoI) request asking the government-owned train company for more information about it.

But instead of answering Carol Fossick’s other detailed questions, a senior LNER manager wrote back and labelled her “transphobic” after trawling through her social media posts….

Maya Forstater, the chief executive of the charity Sex Matters, said: “LNER’s refusal to respond to an FoI request on the basis that the requester had expressed views that challenge gender ideology was disgraceful and discriminatory.

“It’s appalling to see one of the UK’s largest transport companies losing touch with reality to the extent that it sees a focus on ‘binary sex divisions’ and criticism of its expensively clad Pride train as ‘vexatious’ and appropriate grounds for refusal.

“This attempt at thought-policing passengers for blaspheming against the rainbow suggests a corporate culture that is more akin to a medieval church than a modern business.

“The fact that LNER even felt entitled to refuse to respond to an FoI on that basis suggests that staff and managers within the business must have accepted a stultifying culture of fear and obedience.”…

When the Pride-themed Azuma train was unveiled last June, rail bosses said it “celebrates LNER’s support of Pride activities on the LNER route as well as a long-term commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives”.

David Horne, LNER’s managing director, added: “At LNER, we truly focus on creating an inclusive workplace where our people feel able to be themselves.”

Yet the manager who wrote to Ms Fossick told her: “Given the content of your recent tweets, we believe continuing to engage with your request could lead to harmful discourse and cause distress to our transgender employees and the people that the Pride Train represents.

“The repeated focus on these specific topics, coupled with the use of transphobic language and alignment with anti-trans figures, suggests a potential motive beyond simply seeking information.”

Although the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ruled in Ms Fossick’s favour after she challenged LNER’s refusal to answer her, The Telegraph understands that the information she requested has still not been disclosed.

Have LNER been Stonewalled? I do believe they have.