Alliance manifesto calls for councils to sign up to Stonewall 'diversity' scheme despite raft of organisations cutting ties

Under the heading “Creating shared and inclusive communities with a focus on diversity, equality and mutual respect”, the manifesto says one of its objectives is for “councils marking Pride in their area and becoming accredited Stonewall Diversity Champions”.

Stonewall is a charity based in London. It was founded in 1989, initially pursuing acceptance of gay people, but in the last few years has transferred much of its energy to transgender-related lobbying.

Its Diversity Champions scheme involves organisations – schools, public bodies, corporations, police forces – paying fees to the charity, which then advises them on what LGBTQQIA+ policies to pursue and how.

The charity says “in the workplace, everyone should feel safe, welcomed, and free to be ourselves” and the scheme gives employers “the confidence and tools they need to become LGBTQ+ inclusive leaders”.

But there has been an exodus from the scheme in recent years.

In 2021 The Telegraph reported that Liz Truss, then the Women and Equalities Minister, “has told officials she does not think that Whitehall departments should be signed up to the programme, which costs around £2,500 a year”.

Value-for-money was cited as one of her concerns.

Since then there has been a wave of public departures from the scheme, ranging from the BBC and Police Scotland to the UK Department of Health, among others.

And writing in the Daily Mail last December, Stonewall founder Simon Fanshawe encouraged employers to quit the scheme.

He complained that the charity has produced "books on 'trans inclusion' for children as young as two”, saying that ever since the organisation began to focus on trans issues in 2015 “I have been publicly critical watching with despair as its newfound and extreme views have gone from strength to strength”.

In a statement released previously after reports about the scheme, Stonewall said it had been the victim of a "sustained attack" of "misinformation”, calculated to undermine its work.

The Alliance manifesto contains many more sections on things like green living, planning, and transport, as well as a segment calling for councils to adopt “a protocol for engagement with those associated with paramilitary organisations” and to have “a zero-tolerance approach towards paramilitaries and community gatekeepers” – plus a pledge to “deliver better value for money for everyone across Northern Ireland”.

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