Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph:

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has scrubbed all mention of LGBT, gender and race from its diversity policy.

The ministry on Tuesday removed all references to “diversity staff networks” based on characteristics and cut reference to the charity Stonewall on a page outlining department-wide equality and diversity policies on its website.

It instead promised to take an “evidence-based approach” to equality.

Prior to being updated, the page advertised an array of diversity networks for civil servants based on characteristics including “race, disability, gender, LGBTQI, faith, carers, job sharers, menopause, EU nationals, and parents”…..

The old policy also said the ministry would take an active approach to “increasing diversity representation at all levels”, promising to “develop interventions” to block any “disproportionate outcomes”.

The MoJ has now changed the language to remove references to minority groups and scrap claims that it will actively intervene to promote diversity among its workforce.

The new policy says the department now aims to hire the “widest possible range of geographical, social and career backgrounds”. It also states that officials are focused on “having the best people working in MoJ”, rather than increasing diversity.

All references to external benchmarks that the department has participated in, including the Stonewall 100 list of the most inclusive workplaces for LGBT employees, have also been removed.

Sounds good. Though they're not allowing themselves to get too excited about it.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “These routine changes are being made in line with Civil Service-wide guidelines.”

Sir Humphrey couldn't have put it better.