The lady is for turning. And contradicting too. The lady is Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, minister for women and equalities, and now the Conservative party’s great Black hope. Which must come in handy as hope (with a dash of diversity-drenched “anti-wokeness”) appears to be the Tories’ only strategy to be remotely competitive at the next election. Or the one after that.
Badenoch, the would-be PM, is on manoeuvres. Within a matter of days of assailing her own anti-liberal brand and shocking practically everyone by labelling Frank Hester’s obviously racist comments about Diane Abbott as racist, Badenoch quickly returned to form by dismissing the same comments as “trivia”.
Now, to avoid the possibility that any single voter who might smooth her path to No 10 confuses her for an anti-racist activist, Badenoch has sharpened and sunk her teeth into the concept she is oft described as a Tory poster child for: diversity.
On Wednesday, the minister unveiled, most noticeably via a front page in the Daily Telegraph, a report on workplace diversity titled Inclusion at Work. “Britain’s diversity drive has backfired,” says the Telegraph headline, the achievement of which, you may think, was the point of the entire exercise.
Most spending on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is simply wasted, the report says, to which Badenoch adds: “No group should ever be worse off because of companies’ diversity policies – whether that be black women, or white men … Performative gestures such as compulsory pronouns and rainbow lanyards are often a sign that organisations are struggling to demonstrate how they are being inclusive.”
It’s been a terrible waste of time and money, she says. “EDI jobs in our public services are costing the taxpayer at least half a billion pounds a year.
“Despite this, the new report shows that, while millions are being spent on these initiatives, many popular EDI practices – such as diversity training – have little to no tangible impact in increasing diversity or reducing prejudice.”
This helps explain why Badenoch is flying high, for she has this
headline-grabbing niche, she has friends in the press, and she rightly observes that telling people, the right people, what they want to hear about race, gender and sexuality is an especially potent propellent within the current Conservative party.
She also debunked the ideas of white privilege and unconscious bias as “outmoded”. At least she didn’t say they were trivia, but all the same, job done. That’s a standing ovation that you’re hearing and seeing in the rightwing gallery.
It’s Badenoch’s special sauce, but it is not even original. We know that a backlash against EDI is already in full swing in the US, generated by the weird transatlantic right and the likes of Elon Musk, who has dismissed EDI as “just another word for racism”, adding that it “must die”. Opposition to diversity, dressed up as superceding concern for working-class white people, is an elegant cloak for aiding and sustaining discrimination and those who benefit from it.
The report says Britain has more diversity officers than anywhere else but, Kemi, here’s the thing: the reason why Britain hires more diversity officers may have a lot to do with … Britain and Britishness. My guess (and experience) is that the insidious and often deceptively polite nature of bigotry, bias and the inequalities they breed in the UK makes weeding these issues out much more difficult than it would be in societies that are more blatant, less denialist and more literate on diversity pressure points. You might conclude we need more and better diversity schemes and training, but that wouldn’t be a Badenoch crowd-pleaser.
Instead, spurred on by the commission she herself commissioned, Badenoch, via her officials, tells us that: “The government is considering introducing a presumption against external EDI spending and increasing ministerial scrutiny of EDI spending, whilst streamlining EDI training and HR processes, with a view to getting value for the taxpayer.” It’s a bit like saying: “It’s OK, there is no diabetes really – or at least diabetes reports are overblown – so why do we need all these doctors?”
That approach works for rightwing Tories, and it’s rocket fuel for Badenoch’s ascent, but it is troubled by inconvenient facts – at least it would be if facts played any part in this – such as last year’s study in which 22% of UK employees said they faced discrimination in the workplace because of their identity. People from black, Asian and LGBTQ+ backgrounds said they were most keenly affected. And what about those useless diversity schemes? More than 80% of the 1,523 UK respondents who worked for firms that took formal steps to enhance diversity said those initiatives resulted in improvement. Of that group, 70% felt the training they received was beneficial.
That’s not to say all diversity schemes are gold-plated. Some cause division (show me any act or movement towards equality that doesn’t), some are badly designed. Some begin and end as fig leaves to shield companies from reputationally damaging allegations of racism and sexism, to be cited in courts and tribunals as evidence of good intent. Some say Badenoch does the same for the Tory party.
But do diversity initiatives really do more harm than good? Badenoch would say so, but even that is no surprise. Last year, in the Sunday Times, she warned of “snake-oil salesmen operating in a largely unregulated space”. I’d say there’s good and bad in the pursuit of EDI, but the intent is laudable. But then, I’m not trying to ride an anti-woke wave all the way to No 10.
Nels Abbey is a writer, broadcaster and former banker, and the author of Think Like a White Man. His new book, The Hip Hop MBA: Lessons in Cut-Throat Capitalism from Rap’s Moguls, is out in April
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