A Porton Down analyst has won a two-year legal battle against the top-secret UK research centre after facing harassment for his gender-critical beliefs. The Mail has the story.
Father-of-four Peter Wilkins, 43, worked for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The research facility works on developing technology considered vital to Britain’s national security, including countermeasures against chemical and biological threats like Ebola, plague and anthrax as well as ensuring that the UK’s military benefit from the latest technical and scientific developments.
Mr Wilkins, an engineer and analyst, spent 15 years working for DSTL, including secondments to Afghanistan to support operations there and to the Royal Navy’s Maritime Warfare Centre in Fareham.
In 2020 he moved to the MOD’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) as an “Innovation Partner” but resigned in November 2022, claiming a hostile, intimidating and degrading work environment.
An employment tribunal found that he faced harassment and discrimination as a result of his “gender-critical” views, which include a belief in the immutability of “biological sex”, the Times reported.
In one incident, Mr Wilkins, a Christian, was flagged for liking a post on LinkedIn by the charity Sex Matters, with a colleague informing him that gender-critical beliefs were “an ideology” and saying he should be reported to security and HR.
While no action was taken against Mr Wilkins following that exchange, the analyst said he was shocked to be scrutinised “in the same way as if I was expressing support for the provisional IRA or al-Qaeda”.
The panel, overseen by employment judge Gary Self, sitting at Southampton, also heard that Mr Wilkin’s colleagues branded him “sad and pathetic”, “transphobic” and “a rubbish employee” due to his beliefs on gender.
The tribunal uncovered what it described as a “clear hostile animus” against gender-critical thinking at DSTL, which ultimately caused Mr Wilkins to leave his role.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Wilkins said: “It’s a scientific organisation, so it shouldn’t be unacceptable to use the phrase biological sex.” …
Mr Wilkins case was taken up by the Free Speech Union, who paid all his legal fees.
Lord Young of Acton, the Free Speech Union’s General Secretary, told MailOnline: “Peter Wilkins was treated abominably by a small minority of his colleagues – and one colleague in particular – because he had the temerity to stand up for his belief in the biological reality of sex.
“The hounding of people who express gender-critical beliefs by woke activists, often claiming to stand up for ‘inclusion’, is extremely common in the public sector, judging from how many cases of this nature the Free Speech Union has taken on.
“The only way to stop it is if brave people like Peter refuse to take it lying down.
“I hope that in light of this strongly-worded judgement, the Ministry of Defence makes it clear that there’s no place for this kind of behaviour in the department.
“Civil servants have a duty to be politically impartial and that’s not compatible with being a workplace advocate for radical progressive ideology.”
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Jabby Mcstiff
2 months ago
There was a famopus poem written in the 1970s called Open Day At Porton Down. It is worth reading especially in our time. The idea that the only solution to bottled madness is more bottled madness. Like the Gsme Theory fraud of the 1950s. These modes of thought in regard to weapons of mass destruction can be seen as cynical tools of the ruling elite. If you find their behaviour a bit strange just remember that they have a very good idea of when the cataclysm will occur and they have a very strong urge to keep their power structure in place.
Jabby Mcstiff
2 months ago
If you want to defend Porton Down then you are a special kind of stupid, a toxic kind. I don’t give a toss about the fate of their staff given the evil that they have taken on just by being part of such an institution.
Bill Bailey
2 months ago
I wonder if the people who victimized Mr Wilkins will be held to account?
Don’t be silly. I doubt there’ll even be any slapped wrists.
Jabby Mcstiff
2 months ago
Call me old fashioned but I don’t really want a laboratory that works on structures and micro-organisms that might screw me up. You might want to ponder these matters,
Tonka Rigger
2 months ago
The Defence *Science* and Technology Laboratory.
Forgive me, but is biology not a pure science?
And yes, I fully understand that some amphibians, etc. do have the ability to change their sex, but we humans are not those amphibians.
I also believe in the immutability of a person’s sex. And Mr Wilkins looks like a straight up kinda guy. I wish him great fortune. Chin up, mate! Don’t let the b tards get you down.
…A twerp working in the nation’s Defence Science and Technology Lab, who believes in the 37 genders, casts aspersions on a colleague (and Afghanistan veteran) who believes in 2 immutable sexes.
According to the Daily Mail, “Management were loathe to intervene for fear of upsetting Prism, the DSTL sexual orientation and gender identity network, a powerful force within the organisation.”
Another institution accountable for Defence of the Realm, marched through, captured and abjectly surrendered by commanding officers accountable for knowing better. Not for nothing does a prism deviate light travelling in straight line.
Clear case of dereliction of duty in face of an insidious enemy. Firing squad at dawn.
Last edited 2 months ago by Art Simtotic
Mogwai
2 months ago
Paul Kealey, Head of Counterterrorism, is an epic woketard. I wonder if he fully embraces DEI and discriminates against men that look just like him;
How were so many seemingly intelligent people captured by this crap??
That question vexes me daily, I cannot believe how completely and how far the whole country and indeed Western society have fallen into this ideology. It has me utterly bewildered.
Well surely there’s a correlation with the people that believed wearing a mask ( remember at the start of the scam when they said you could make your own out of socks or old T-shirts? ) in the supermarket, but not sat down in a restaurant, could protect you from a deadly virus, and the people who think women can have penises. I fail to see how somebody can demonstrate maximum retardation over one ludicrous narrative but critical thinking skills regarding another.
I suppose everything is a belief because nothing can be disproved, but “biological sex” doesn’t require much of a leap of faith. There’s no current, serious body of opinion or theory that I am aware of that posits the idea that “biological sex” can be changed. So I am not sure why it’s labelled in the article as a “belief”. The reality is that he supposedly upset people by pointing out the truth – a truth they know well, otherwise they would not be so “upset” and want to silence him. If the immutability of sex was some fringe, crackpot idea, nobody would care.
I long for the time when newspapers stop using the phrase “biological sex”. Sex is an entirely biological term you dummies.
Mogwai
2 months ago
”Hilary is a woman with a trans history…” Jesus wept. And special shame should go towards women that are sat there like smiley nodding dogs, enabling and encouraging this insulting, ideological shite, like co-stars in the bloke’s autogynephilic fantasy;
”ITV News has run a nine minute interview with one of the ‘ten female leaders’ in the history of Medway in Kent. This particular ‘female’ is a man who talks about being ‘transgender’ for the entire interview.”
“The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that a belief that biological sex is immutable is protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010″
So let’s get this straight – at a top level biological scientific establishment, it took a religious engineer to point out an incontrovertible scientific fact, for which the scientific establishment then punished him.
Once upon a time it would have been those flying in the face of science who would have been marginalised in such an establishment.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
There was a famopus poem written in the 1970s called Open Day At Porton Down. It is worth reading especially in our time. The idea that the only solution to bottled madness is more bottled madness. Like the Gsme Theory fraud of the 1950s. These modes of thought in regard to weapons of mass destruction can be seen as cynical tools of the ruling elite. If you find their behaviour a bit strange just remember that they have a very good idea of when the cataclysm will occur and they have a very strong urge to keep their power structure in place.
If you want to defend Porton Down then you are a special kind of stupid, a toxic kind. I don’t give a toss about the fate of their staff given the evil that they have taken on just by being part of such an institution.
I wonder if the people who victimized Mr Wilkins will be held to account?
Don’t be silly. I doubt there’ll even be any slapped wrists.
Call me old fashioned but I don’t really want a laboratory that works on structures and micro-organisms that might screw me up. You might want to ponder these matters,
The Defence *Science* and Technology Laboratory.
Forgive me, but is biology not a pure science?
And yes, I fully understand that some amphibians, etc. do have the ability to change their sex, but we humans are not those amphibians.
Let’s hope their chemists are more consistent with their science than the people pushing this guy out… given what their job is
I also believe in the immutability of a person’s sex. And Mr Wilkins looks like a straight up kinda guy. I wish him great fortune. Chin up, mate! Don’t let the b tards get you down.
Let’s just get this straight…
…A twerp working in the nation’s Defence Science and Technology Lab, who believes in the 37 genders, casts aspersions on a colleague (and Afghanistan veteran) who believes in 2 immutable sexes.
According to the Daily Mail, “Management were loathe to intervene for fear of upsetting Prism, the DSTL sexual orientation and gender identity network, a powerful force within the organisation.”
Another institution accountable for Defence of the Realm, marched through, captured and abjectly surrendered by commanding officers accountable for knowing better. Not for nothing does a prism deviate light travelling in straight line.
Clear case of dereliction of duty in face of an insidious enemy. Firing squad at dawn.
Paul Kealey, Head of Counterterrorism, is an epic woketard. I wonder if he fully embraces DEI and discriminates against men that look just like him;
https://x.com/MForstater/status/1903352893031297307
Twerp, twerps and more twerps.
We’re living in twerptastic times.
How were so many seemingly intelligent people captured by this crap??
That question vexes me daily, I cannot believe how completely and how far the whole country and indeed Western society have fallen into this ideology. It has me utterly bewildered.
You and me both, TR
Well surely there’s a correlation with the people that believed wearing a mask ( remember at the start of the scam when they said you could make your own out of socks or old T-shirts? ) in the supermarket, but not sat down in a restaurant, could protect you from a deadly virus, and the people who think women can have penises. I fail to see how somebody can demonstrate maximum retardation over one ludicrous narrative but critical thinking skills regarding another.
Ditto the Covid scam, ditto the climate scam.
It’s the moronic ‘be kind’ brigade. These people can’t think more than 24 hours ahead.
I suppose everything is a belief because nothing can be disproved, but “biological sex” doesn’t require much of a leap of faith. There’s no current, serious body of opinion or theory that I am aware of that posits the idea that “biological sex” can be changed. So I am not sure why it’s labelled in the article as a “belief”. The reality is that he supposedly upset people by pointing out the truth – a truth they know well, otherwise they would not be so “upset” and want to silence him. If the immutability of sex was some fringe, crackpot idea, nobody would care.
I long for the time when newspapers stop using the phrase “biological sex”. Sex is an entirely biological term you dummies.
”Hilary is a woman with a trans history…” Jesus wept. And special shame should go towards women that are sat there like smiley nodding dogs, enabling and encouraging this insulting, ideological shite, like co-stars in the bloke’s autogynephilic fantasy;
”ITV News has run a nine minute interview with one of the ‘ten female leaders’ in the history of Medway in Kent. This particular ‘female’ is a man who talks about being ‘transgender’ for the entire interview.”
https://x.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1903915855638855728
From an article in 2021:
“The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that a belief that biological sex is immutable is protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010″
https://www.moorebarlow.com/blog/belief-that-biological-sex-is-immutable-is-protected-under-the-equality-act/
So let’s get this straight – at a top level biological scientific establishment, it took a religious engineer to point out an incontrovertible scientific fact, for which the scientific establishment then punished him.
Once upon a time it would have been those flying in the face of science who would have been marginalised in such an establishment.
100% about turn over probably last 15-20 years… scary eh
Good for him. I hope his persecutors will now face disciplinary action.