The Telegraph- Stonewall exodus begins as Ministry of Justice officials say it has ‘lost its way’

 Exclusive: Stonewall exodus begins as Ministry of Justice officials say it has ‘lost its way’

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, is preparing to withdraw his department from the equality charity’s ‘diversity champions’ programme


 SUNDAY POLITICAL EDITOR

5 June 2021 • 7:00pm

The Ministry of Justice is leading an exodus of government departments from Stonewall’s diversity scheme, amid controversy over the charity’s “dubious” training.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, is preparing to withdraw his department from the equality charity’s “diversity champions” programme, which includes guidance on gender-neutral spaces and the use of pronouns.

The move will come as a blow to the lesbian, gay, bi and trans charity, which ranks the Ministry of Justice fifth in its list of top 100 employers.

Other government departments are expected to follow suit, after Liz Truss, the equalities minister, suggested that government bodies should withdraw from the scheme over concerns about its value for money.

Sources at the Ministry of Justice suggested that the decision to withdraw from the scheme was also based on concerns about Stonewall’s “dubious” training and approach to free speech. Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary, is now reviewing the department’s diversity policy on behalf of Mr Buckland.

An MoJ source said: “It’s a shame, as this was once an organisation that did incredibly important work, but it has totally lost its way and the ministers just don’t think it’s justifiable to give Stonewall taxpayers’ money.

“The department will be just as welcoming to LGBT people as before, but we really shouldn’t be paying thousands of pounds for controversial advice about pronouns and gender-neutral spaces.”

Described as “the definitive benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi and trans inclusion in the workplace”, Stonewall claims its workplace equality index makes companies more attractive to prospective employees.

MoJ plans to ‘reallocate’ funds

The MoJ ranked fifth in the 2020 index - the highest government department on the list. It is understood to pay £3,500 per year to be part of the diversity champions scheme - funds that will now be “reallocated” to causes such as disability and autism training.

The decision to withdraw the department from the scheme comes after the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equalities watchdog, chose not to renew its membership over “value for money” concerns, and it emerged that at least five other public bodies had quietly pulled out since 2019. On Friday, it emerged that Channel 4 had also withdrawn.

The scheme counts 250 government departments and public bodies among its members. They pay thousands of pounds for guidance and are ranked on the charity’s Workplace Equality Index.

The Telegraph has revealed that Stonewall had advised organisations to replace the term mother with “parent who has given birth” to help boost their ranking on the equality leaderboard.

The charity has advised employers wishing to be included on their Workplace Equality Index that they must remove all gendered language, and allow those who self-identify as a woman to use female toilets and changing rooms.

Last week The Sunday Telegraph disclosed justice ministers’ anger at “playgroup” style meditation sessions that prison bosses were using to flush out biases among staff.

The sessions involve prison and probation staff closing their eyes to imagine walking through a park where they come across different people, after which they are challenged to say if everyone they “saw” was white, able-bodied or in a heterosexual relationship.

After being alerted to the initiative by The Telegraph, Mr Buckland told his top civil servant to take action and get a “grip” of it.

Stonewall insists that all employers “need to ensure that their staff, including LGBTQ+ staff, are free from discrimination and prejudice at work but it is up to them how they meet this statutory requirement”.

“Since we set up the diversity champions programme in 2001 many large employers have developed major internal programmes to promote diversity and inclusion across their staff”, the charity said last week.

Related Topics


  • Gender equality, 
  • LGBTQ, 
  • Ministry of Justice, 
  • Robert Buckland

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