The UK government has lost control of its woke civil service

Alarming reports of the extent of the influence of LGBTQ+ group Stonewall at government departments – seemingly without the knowledge of ministers – beg the question: Who’s actually running the British state?

Is it ineptitude or cowardice that has led to a situation where the UK government has lost control over a civil service that is quietly getting on with the project of turning the British state into a woke cultural institution?

The LGBTQ+ lobby group Stonewall is as woke as it gets. And yet despite its illiberal reputation for advocating the policing of language and demanding the usage of pronouns, it is busy re-engineering the culture of the civil service.

Outwardly, members of the British Government oppose the use of the advocacy group Stonewall to train members of public bodies to become fully fledged supporters of transgender ideology. Yet, we now hear, officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office signed up to become members of Stonewall’s workplace Diversity Champions scheme – designed to encourage so-called “workplace inclusivity” – behind the back of ministers.

Back in June, the then-foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, did not have a clue that his senior officials had opted to sign up to Stonewall’s training programme. It seems that the officials responsible for importing the group’s insidious training schemes are a law unto themselves.

Last month, Nancy Kelley, the chief executive of Stonewall, was invited to a Foreign Office event without the knowledge of Liz Truss, the current foreign secretary. It appears that as far as some senior officials are concerned, the practice of civil service accountability to ministers has become a relic of the past.

That the elected ministers are kept in the dark about the activities of Stonewall is bad enough. However, what’s even more worrying is that some are evidently quite indifferent about who trains and educates their civil servants. Consequently, the British civil service is being systematically ‘re-educated’ to accept the values, language and practices associated with movements promoting the cultural politics of identity.

For example, transgenderism is fast becoming institutionalised in the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Recently it was reported that officials there have been instructed to declare their preferred gender pronouns.

It should not come as a surprise that a MoD civil servant serves as a trustee of Stonewall. The civil servant, Dunni Alao, was described by The Times as a “fierce proponent” of Stonewall.

Nor should it come as a surprise that the MoD published an “inclusive language” guide advising all service personnel, staff and private contractors how to discuss sensitive subjects such as gender identity.

As is so often the case with public sector bodies in thrall to Stonewall, the MoD guidelines religiously follow the template set out by the group. The guidance literally lifts some sentences word for word from Stonewall’s glossary of LGBTQ+ terms.

MoD personnel are told that “not all women are biologically female”. They are warned to be careful when using the word “female” lest it “erases gender non-conforming people and members of the trans community”.

The guidance is unequivocal on the use of so-called preferred pronouns. MoD personnel are expected to use their preferred pronouns on their email signatures, on their social media profiles and at the start of meetings in order to help non-binary colleagues feel comfortable.

It states that “by respecting others’ pronouns, you recognise their sense of self and show you respect their gender identity”.

As far as the MoD is concerned, the re-engineering of its internal culture by woke activists is perfectly all right. Nor are ministers kicking up a fuss about it.

It looks like the British armed forces could be fast-tracked to embrace the woke culture of their American cousins. When even the military is turned into a laboratory where social engineers are allowed to re-educate service personnel to adopt the behaviour and language of university campus activists, you know that the defence of the realm is in serious trouble.

We now know that the American military establishment appeared to be far more invested in promoting the virtues of LGBTQ+ propaganda than fighting the war in Afghanistan. Is that what the British people can expect of their own armed forces in future?

There is also the small question of democracy. Don’t the public have the right to know who empowered Stonewall to act as a semi-official ‘Correctorate’ that can dictate what words can and cannot be used and how public servants should behave?

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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.