High profile cancellations in the wake of the Cass Report are front and centre in the media as those whose lives were destroyed are once again in the spotlight, this time for vindication. A recent survey of U.K. employees, however, indicates that the number of British people who have lost jobs and careers for falling foul of woke workplace policies which clash with their legally held opinions and beliefs may be considerably higher than first thought.
The fallout of the Cass Report is gradually exposing the level of persecution of those who dared question the nation’s healthcare strategy for the treatment of children suffering from mental illness. Jobs and careers lost, families broken under the subsequent social and financial pressure, some people, notably Graham Linehan, lost everything. To understand the consequences of being cancelled I would recommend reading Linehan’s book Tough Crowd.
The wholesale adoption of radical ideologies that, until a matter of months ago, were the polar opposite of accepted majority or at least reasonable opinion by institutions led to the extremely rapid spread of such ideologies across employers under the flag of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Last month, the Free Speech Union published a paper on the British workplace and its survey makes disturbing reason for anyone concerned with the assault on freedom in the U.K.:
- 62% of workers said they have had to conceal what they really think about the EDIC (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Climate) training they have received
- 22% have been compelled to say things they don’t believe. This rises to 31% among BAME respondents
- 45% report that the training they have received conflicted with their personal, religious or political beliefs
- 31% have left a job because of their employer’s promotion of woke ideology. This rises to 43% among BAME employees and 46% among LGBT employees
- 36% said that they witnessed staff being penalised in some way by their current employer because of EDIC training. This includes 12% who have witnessed staff being fired for the same
Surveys like this are routinely dismissed as being flawed, but the methodology here was sound: the survey ran between January 25th and 31st 2024; 800 people were interviewed, the sample taken from Dynata consumer access panels and designed to be representative of the U.K. by working age, industry, geography and employer size. Excluded groups included: the self-employed, students (not working), homemakers, the unemployed and retirees.
In February 2024 there were an estimated 29.71 million people employed in the U.K. out of a working population of 32.9 million. 65% have taken some form of EDIC Training, so that’s 19.3 million. The 800 interviewed were from that group. so what do those percentages look like when we apply them to the 19.3 million?
- Workers concealing opinions about EDIC: 62% = 12 million
- Compelled to say things they don’t believe: 22% = 4.3 million
- Training conflicts with beliefs:political, religious and personal: 45% = 8.7 million
- Left job because of employer’s promotion of woke ideologies: 41% = 7.9 million
- Witnessed staff penalised because of EDIC training: 36% = 6.9 million
- Witnessed a member of staff fired for same: 12% = 2.3 million
That last point is especially concerning and needs unpacking. Now, obviously we cannot conclude that over 2.3 million people were fired. The witnesses may have got it wrong, the individual may have been fired for bullying or harassment related to a protected group or may have been fired for a completely different reason.
However, if even only one in 10 of those are correct, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people who may have lost their jobs over ‘wrongthink’. The aggression and zealousness of the trans activists is such that any dissent from their orthodoxy immediately results in accusations of transphobia. We’ve seen this in the treatment of the likes of Graham Linehan: the dedication of activists to sniffing out and silencing dissent was only matched by the speed at which most of Graham’s friends and colleagues abandoned him as too toxic to be associated with. If you apply the same behaviours to the workplace then it’s fairly safe to assume that anyone who dared question woke trans policies in the workplace has been subject to similar vigour. Certainly, we have spoken to dozens of people, especially women, who report that they have been fired for challenging things like pronoun and toilet room policies.
All the evidence suggests that HR departments have been falling over themselves to ensure that their employees comply with the tenets of radical gender theory, to the extent that some have failed in their due diligence and have fallen foul of the Equality Act 2010 in employment tribunals. The Free Speech Union has been doing a sterling job fighting on the behalf of workers’ rights and has to date taken on over 2,500 cases. The wheels of justice turn slowly: there are currently 420,000 cases in the backlog.
If you want justice, that’s over three years you have to wait before your case is heard, so its hardly surprising that 24 million are keeping silent. Who can afford to lose their job with families, debts and responsibilities?
The impact this must be having on our workplace culture is worth considering. In my essay published in the Daily Sceptic last month I discussed how totalitarian governments like that of the USSR required the population to wear a metaphorical mask in public to hide their true thoughts, opinions and beliefs. The thickness and absurdity of those masks eventually caused the whole Soviet System to collapse under its own bullshit. Humans cannot live a lie, and when they are forced to, stress, depression and mental illness all follow. The FSU survey suggests that over 18,000,000 workers are wearing masks hiding their true selves.
What impact is all this having on productivity and the economy in general? Kemi Badenoch and others have spoken out about this. Freedom of thought and expression and confidence of challenging convention at work are all core requirements of economic growth. This is why free societies prosper. It is no mistake that it was the Enlightenment and the retreat of orthodox religion in the 17th century that took Europe and then the world out of the economic stagnation of the medieval period and saw the colossal advance in technologies we have seen since 1700. Incidentally, modern humans have been around for 250,000 years or so – exactly the same as us physically and mentally, the only difference being technologies and their view of the world. When we see nations retreat into totalitarianism, like Venezuela, we see once-prosperous states slip backwards.
This report and its implications should concern us all, not just on principle for those of us who cherish freedom, but because the chilling effect this will be having on our economy is clearly having an impact on our wealth as a nation, and hence our ability to fund the social programmes that those who enforce woke ideologies themselves value.
The project to identify those who lost their jobs over this is going to be a long and tough road. However, the early indications are that this figure could be very high. The remarkable common denominator is that those who lose their jobs over these issues tend to be exemplary employees in all other respects; many seem to have years of service behind them and, due to the nature of the trans debate, many are women. It could easily prove to be a national scandal of huge proportions.
C.J. Strachan is the pseudonym of a concerned Scot who worked for 30 years as a Human Resources executive in some of the U.K.’s leading organisations. Subscribe to his Substack.
Figures in this article have been corrected after identifying a mistake in the number of U.K. workers who had taken some form of EDIC training. The overall argument is unaffected.
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Well this is progress, but let’s hope it’s a permanent cessation rather than a ‘pause’;
”Scotland’s sole clinic for treating transgender youths announced Thursday that it is pausing new prescriptions of puberty blockers for minors.
Sandyford, a health clinic in Glasgow operated by Scotland’s National Health Service, said in a statement that it is indefinitely pausing new prescriptions of the medication for people under 18 who are experiencing “gender incongruence.” Patients who are already undergoing treatment will not be affected.
“We are committed to providing the best possible clinical care for young people accessing and understand the distress that gender incongruence can cause,” the clinic said. “While this pause is in place, we will continue to give anyone who is referred into the Young People Gender Service the psychological support that they require while we review the pathways in line with the findings.”
Scottish Trans, a division of Scotland’s Equality Network that focuses on trans rights, said that Scottish health officials were making the “wrong decision, and that it will harm trans children and young people.”
“This decision has been taken within the context where the reality of trans people’s experiences and lives is questioned almost daily in some of the media and some political circles,” the group said in a statement. “This makes us worry that the decision has been influenced by that context rather than solely through consideration of the best interests of trans children and young people.”
Puberty blockers — which have been used for decades to delay puberty in children who were developing too quickly — are now typically prescribed to prevent the onset of puberty for youths questioning their gender identities. The drugs also give youths greater time to decide whether to pursue more permanent treatments like hormone replacement therapy and transition-related surgeries.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/scotland-pauses-prescriptions-puberty-blockers-transgender-minors-rcna148366
Jesus wept! Yes, of course it’s the kind of ‘quality’ content we’d expect from the BBC. Has he modeled himself on the ”I’m a lady” character from Little Britain or just raided his Grandma’s wardrobe?;
”One day we will be ASTONISHED we gave so much airtime to crossdressing incels.”
https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/1780971843253682573
There are lot of things I hate today in the world of wokery (oops is that a hate crime?) But one I really detest is when people say “We are committed to………….” or when they say “Your call is important to us……..” ———It makes you vomit.
Why have more BAME people felt compelled to say thing they don’t think or leave their job because of the promotion of woke ideology?
I thought DEI was supposed to be for their benefit.
Perhaps they don’t hate white people as much as the white people’s overlords?
Perhaps they worry about whether they get their jobs because they are good or because they are BAME.
Elon Musk is worth his weight in gold. Actually, scratch that, that’s kinda undervaluing him, but er, anyway, he’s musing about launching a first amendment signature campaign. To put politicians in the spot. Damned good idea. We should launch First Amendment GB to parallel it.
My family members tell me they dare not mention their opinions in their work places, in the public sector.
It was heading that way when I left the Civil Service 8 years ago. I would imagine it’s ten time worse now.
They will be free to mention they are worried about global warming, but not free to mention they are not worried about global warming. ——–ie. Agree with Equality Diversity Race Gender and Climate or ELSE
It is not just the public sector where you dare not mention your opinions. DEI is entrenched in all corporate companies. Mid sized companies are now the same and smaller companies feel they have no option but to follow. This toxic ideology has, it appears, prospered under fourteen years of fake Conservatism.
One of the many excellent things about being retired is that I have been spared having to kowtow to HR departments and woke management
This is one reason why many scientists are older and retired before they can be free to expose the climate scam for what it is.
Soon we shall be distracted by stories like “Infected blood scandal: Children were used as ‘guinea pigs’ in clinical trials” a few decades ago so that we don’t pay attention to the clinical trials of a new product which allegedly prevents infection, transmission and hospitalisation from a respiratory virus. Anybody who “wrongly” thinks that perhaps a new scandal is under way with the current generation of guinea pigs will doubtless be sacked.
About 10 years ago I went to start training for a new job. After the training was complete the group was told this by the training officer “You all may have noticed that there are many Asian and Muslim people working here. Should any of you say anything to upset these people you will face disciplinary action and possible dismissal. Have any of you any questions? Since I wasn’t too fussy about this job as I already had a full time job I asked “If an Asian or Muslim says something to offend me will they also face disciplinary action and possible dismissal”? —-The look on the training officers face was a collectors item and I have never seen a jaw drop so fast in my life. —-Was I out of order? What is your opinion guys?——————-By the way I told them to stick the job where the sun don’t shine.
Brilliant!
Another good reply would have been: Why do you think anybody would want to work for a company which tolerates people like you bullying prospective new colleagues even before they started working here?
This is an outstanding example of an absolutely toxic person employed in a role he isn’t suited for and a really good reason to close the door from the outside ASAP.
The sad thing is though he is only following the woke instructions given to him.
“Graham Linehan”…..Just watched an old episode of I’m Alan Partridge the other day. Timeless classic. However, I was surprised to hear that Graham Linehan attacked Count Dankula when the Nazi Pug incident came to light.
This is astonishing. Well done to C.J. Strachan and the DS for exposing what may be just the tip of the iceberg.