Too many of Britain’s Members of Parliament, from all parties not just one, are supine, cowardly, rule-followers with no discernable moral backbone and no particular ability to exercise independence of mind. These less than useful MP’s are not self aware, thoughtful representatives of the people who elected them, they are lobby fodder, nothing more and nothing less.
Of course there are MP’s of independent mind, it’s just that there are not enough of them. Maybe if there were more independently minded MP’s no matter what party banner they were elected under, then many of the problems that Britain suffers from today would not be as bad as they are.
However some MP’s are laudable examples of how to be a thoughtful, brave and independently minded member of the House of Commons. One particularly good example is Ben Bradley the MP for Mansfield and who has held the seat since 2017 when he took the seat from Labour.
Mr Bradley has come out with all guns blazing over the issue of unconscious bias training, that pseudo-science that suggests, without good cause, that all white people have some degree of unconscious bias against minorities. Admittedly we all have personal biases about what spiritual paths we like or dislike, what foods we prefer, what books we read and what political currents or parties we support. Nobody with an ounce of reason would suggest that biases do not exist, but the idea that we have biases that we know bugger all about until they are pointed out and exorcised by a highly paid trainer is complete bullshit.
Here’s part of Mr Bradley’s article at Conservative Home about the intrusion of unconscious bias training in the Palace of Westminster.
This particular idea, that we all need to be re-educated and taught to suppress our innate urge to be awful to each other all the time, is costing the taxpayer a bomb as it rolls through our various government agencies and quangos. Next it’s the turn of MPs to be told that all of our thoughts are offensive and should be corrected.
I found out recently that House of Commons staff have been forced to sit through this nonsense since 2016, but the course is being extended in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests – a subject on which my thoughts have been pretty well publicised – and MPs will be expected to sit through it too. Let me be clear right from the off; I will not be taking it.
Nobody doubts that racism exists and can make life more challenging for some people. Nor that sexism exists, ageism and discrimination across a whole spectrum. That much is true. What I doubt here is that these things are somehow buried deep in all of our subconscious, steering us at every turn, and that with the help of some genius “educator” I can be cured of my unseen evil. I’m yet to see the evidence of it achieving a great deal, apart from big profits for the training company.
It’s been reported this week that £7,000 of taxpayer’s cash will be spent designing a course featuring a blue “Cookie Monster-esque” puppet, who wants to tell me in its cute and furry way that I shouldn’t use “offensive” words like “pensioner” or “lady”. Apparently, the puppet also plans to tell me which version of history I must use and which bits I should delete from my memory – improving my “cultural competency” – which is going to cost us around £700,000 in total. Needless to say I’m not convinced that this is an appropriate use of taxpayer’s money.
Read the rest of Mr Bradley’s excellent piece about the snake oil of unconscious bias training via this link.
This whole unconscious bias training is a horrifically expensive scam. It’s also dangerous as it convinces those who go along with it, to speak only in the manner and of the subjects that the training tells them that it is safe to speak about. We should not be having Members of Parliament being so intellectually debilitated as to be thinking or acting in this manner.
If MP’s keep silent for fear of offending the false deities put up by unconscious bias training, then they will be fearful of speaking out on issues that need to be highlighted but which may be ‘offensive’ or perceived as offensive to some in various groups. If the situation regarding MP’s being reluctant to speak out about Islamic Rape Gangs for fear of being called ‘racist’, then how much worse will things be if MP’s take on board the brainwashing of unconscious bias training. I agree with Mr Bradley. This is not stuff that we should be spending public money on. Unconscious bias training and its variants along with those who push this bullshit need to be kicked out of the Palace of Westminster immediately.
Well done Ben Bradley, we need more pragmatic MPs like you and the Sir Gary Streeter ilk gone
Sir Gary Streeter – Bedwetting MP of the week?