Whitehall's 'woke' rules hit the pub as after-work drinks could be discriminatory

21 February 2022, 05:43 | Updated: 21 February 2022, 08:13

After-work trips to the pub could be discriminatory, civil servants have been told in a racial awareness course branded "woke" by one Tory MP.

Government workers have been told in an online course that should they go to the pub and discuss work without two co-workers who don't drink then “the views of the majority cultural group have prevailed”, The Telegraph reports.

The learning module sets out a scenario where a civil servant team goes out for drinks each Wednesday but are not joined by two colleagues, Amir and Nita.

Amir says: “I was brought up not to drink, so I don’t go to pubs, and nor does Nita.”

"The choice of space, for team building and socialising has excluded some staff. The choice has been made to ensure the views and ideas of the majority cultural group prevail, excluding the input of others in the team. The entire organisation is likely to suffer as a result.

Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment are all also potentially taking place in the scenario."

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The course goes on to say that in the scenario “it could be said some people are being discriminated against on cultural grounds”

Whitehall staff have also been told that if a panel of white men in their middle age interviewed a black woman for a role and find it hard to “build a rapport” with her, then “unconscious bias” would occur.

Another part of the course which set out the benefits provided by immigration was criticised as “political advocacy from the civil service” by a source to The Telegraph.

Tory MP Saqib Bhatti said that “adopting a quota-filling box ticking approach only exacerbates division, causes resentment and creates an 'us and them' culture”.

The Meriden MP added: "This kind of ‘woke’ bureaucracy is not what the public want to see their taxes spent on. While I don’t doubt the civil service want to be more inclusive perhaps they ought to remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions."