Corporate wokeness: Warning British firms pose 'dangerous' working environments for employees with different ideologies

Director of Data and Impact at the Free Speech Union (FSU) Thomas Harris says Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policies - which are often compulsory for employees - could "further erode freedom of expression".

The FSU reports that one in 20 of its cases are directly related to EDI training which are "accelerating the politicisation of the workplace".

While organisations such as Coutts and the Church of England’s investment bodies have signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment - which encompasses EDI and Net Zero policies.

The FSU has shared exclusive case studies with GB News, including examples of employees who have faced possible sanctions.

Some members have been told that they will fail their EDI training if they don’t pass a test with a "sufficiently high score" which could ultimately see employees suffering "hostility" and a potential sanction.

Other EDI training materials which treat issues such as critical race theory, micro aggressions (negative attitudes toward stigmatised or culturally marginalised groups), or anti-racism, as ideas are not to be questioned.

It comes after reports revealed last week that organisation “B Lab UK” is lobbying for a change in the law to further embed these practices in British companies.

The “Better Business Act” would see section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 amended to give chiefs a duty to consider “people and the planet”, not just profit.

It follows Coutts' decision to debank GB News' presenter Nigel Farage because his views did not "align with its purpose and values".

Harris told GB News: “The evidence from our casework is clear. The EDI policies being rolled out by companies wishing to demonstrate their woke credentials, routinely operate as oppressive speech codes for both employees and customers alike."

Alongside general EDI training, FSU cases can also involve unconscious bias training, anti-racism training, gender identity training.

Harris added: “The EDI training course, often compulsory for staff, is a dangerous moment. Quietly admitting that you have traditional Christian beliefs on marriage, or that you take a colour-blind view of race, can get you into a lot of trouble."

As part of their work, in April 2022 the FSU wrote to the Home Office objecting to an instruction for employees to state their pronouns in their signature.

"We believe that the proposed amendment to section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 will further erode freedom of expression in the UK, accelerating the politicisation of the workplace, and making it all but impossible to express popular but unfashionable views," Harris said.

The FSU supports those who believe they have been penalised for exercising their freedom of speech.

With the help of FSU, a rail conductor sued his ex-employer West Midlands Trains after he was sacked for gross misconduct when he was overheard questioning "black privilege" during an online diversity training course.

Simon Isherwood was sacked last March after his colleagues heard him criticising the webinar's contents when he left his microphone on.

He was overheard telling his wife: "I couldn't be a**** because I thought, 'you know what, I'll just get f**king angry'. You know what I really wanted to ask?... and I wish I had, do they have black privilege in other countries? So, if you're in Ghana?..."

Free Speech Union General Secretary Toby Young said: "I hope this sends a message to other employers: you cannot dismiss staff for gross misconduct for mocking woke diversity training. Workers have rights, including the right to free speech."