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At its core, equality is a noble ideal. It is the principle that promoted the Christian faith, drove the fight against slavery and inspired the growth of democracy. But as so often in our modern society, the ugly mix progressive ideology and judicial activism is wrecking this uplifting concept. In the hands of uncompromising zealots, blinkered campaigners and opportunistic lawyers, equality is being turned into another weapon in the culture wars against traditional civilisation.
That can clearly be seen in the Orwellian perversity of justifying explicit racial discrimination by reference to the quest for equality, as happened during a recent RAF recruitment campaign where the air chiefs, eager to boost diversity and signal their political virtue, imposed a ban on applications from white men. In fact, their values became so twisted by this initiative that one squadron leader shamelessly declared that he did not want to see “any more useless white male pilots”. This kind of divisive practice is all too common.
Major organisations provide training places, internships and bursaries exclusively for applicants from ethnic minorities, diversity consultants run courses that challenge “white Privilege”, while several theatres in London have put on performances for black only audiences so the actors are free from “the white gaze”.
Woke dogma’s capacity for intolerance runs deep, not least because it cultivates hierarchies of victimhood where common-sense and decency are crushed beneath the wheels of dogma. The most unlikely people can fall foul of its arbitrary, sinister code, such as Jennifer Melle, a devout Christian and long-serving NHS nurse of African heritage who currently works at the St Helier hospital in Carshalton, Surrey.
As was reported this week, Ms Melle has never had a single complaint lodged against her – until one day last year, when a six-ft, violent convicted paedophile was brought into the hospital with an infection. During his stay on her ward, the deranged patient – who was born a man but identifies as a woman – reportedly hurled foul, racist abuse at her and, at one point, tried to attack her.
It might have been thought that, given their loud commitment to diversity, the hospital’s management would have strongly defended a loyal, black member of staff, but not a bit of it. For, in their eyes, Ms Melle had committed a serious offence by referring to the abusive patient as “he” and “mister” during a phone call with a doctor.
Her act of so-called “misgendering” resulted in disciplinary action and a final warning. But that is not the end of her ordeal. Another investigation is now underway by the Nursing and Midwifery Council into her fitness to practise as a health professional.
She now asks with justified ruefulness: “What happened to the England of fair play?”
It is a question that many of us ponder in the face of the doctrinaire madness sweeping the land. Age-old liberties and British pragmatism are disappearing, replaced by a new culture of rights and self-entitlement. That disturbing pattern can be seen in the rash of legal cases taken in the name of equality by women against their employers, including the big supermarket chains and councils like Birmingham.
Presenting themselves as victims of sex discrimination, these litigants and their lawyers maintain that under the Equality Act of 2010, different occupations in an organisation should attract the same level of earnings if the work is “of equal value”. According to this nebulous – and dubious – theory, municipal cleaners can be bracketed with refuse collectors, or checkout assistants with warehouse workers.
But all this has the air of a surreal farce. Pay rates should reflect the labour market, not sentimental or political notions of fairness. Yet employers keep losing these cases, with the result that they have to fork out colossal sums in damages. In 2023, Birmingham Council, having already dished out £1billion in equal pay claims, effectively declared itself bankrupt when lumbered with a further bill for £760million.
Subsequent attempts by the city to cut costs have resulted in a long, bitter strike by the binmen, with uncollected rubbish piled high in the rat-infested streets. Such ugly chaos is another graphic indicator of the damage caused by dogma.
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