REDP working group

At Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) this morning for the weekly meeting of the Working Group of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP).

Much of the (admittedly short) meeting is taken up with debriefing on our away day last week (especially since two members of this working group missed it through illness) and a bit of preparation for the away day planned for the members of the working group this coming Monday.

I show that front page article from The Mail on Sunday ("Equality Madness") and we discuss whether there is some meaningful way we can respond to this and other pieces like it. I propose that we have a space on REDP's website called something like "The Wrong end of the Stick" or "It's Equality and Diversity Gone Mad!", covering stories such as this. I used to do this sort of thing when I worked at NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health). It was part of my brief there to seek out and collect stories that we called "Bonkers Conkers" for inclusion in the annual report and in the Chairman's address at the AGM.

I think that we need to acknowledge this sort of media misrepresentation of equality and diversity work, such disparagement of the Equality Act 2010, and be able to rebut it - but with a relatively light touch.