Reform UK cranks up war on woke with plans to blast 'toxic' culture in 'blueprint' council

A Reform UK-controlled council is about to launch what the party claims will be the “boldest” ripping up of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) measures ever attempted by a British local authority. It boasts that “woke training, identity-based staff networks, and unfair hiring practices are all expected to be axed” at Staffordshire County Council.

Reform hopes the assault on EDI measures will be replicated by councils across the nation with Staffordshire's plan serving as a "blueprint". All EDI training modules will be scrapped and recruitment practices will change so “nobody is disadvantaged or advantaged on the basis of protected characteristics”.

Reform says the measures are intended to unwind years of “EDI creep” when the council was run by the Conservatives. A new cabinet position paper – Equality Before the Council – sets out plans for ending “virtue-signalling campaigns” and “abolishing unfair hiring and career progression practices”. An audit across the council is intended to identify “pointless policies” and “potential financial savings”.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said: “During the local elections, Reform UK gave a clear pledge to the British people that we would rip out the toxic EDI culture from every council we control. Thanks to the excellent work of our brilliant team in Staffordshire, that’s exactly what we’re delivering. This is decisive action that finally ends the Tory-enabled creep of this woke nonsense into our local authorities. This is common sense in action and it should be rolled out as a blueprint for every council right across the country.”

Martin Murray, Staffordshire’s leader, said: "When we stood for election in Staffordshire we promised that we would do away with nonsense EDI and ensure that everyone is treated and respected equally, under British law and without fear or favour. I spent decades owning and running nightclubs and I lived by one simple truth: equality means the same rules and same respect for every person, whether on a night out or inside a government authority.”

Hayley Coles, the deputy leader, added: “Every person who comes into contact with Staffordshire County Council is an individual of equal worth and standing, not a representative of a group or a proxy for a cause. That simple, radical, thoroughly British idea has been eroded step by step, over a matter of decades by frameworks that sort people into groups, weigh identity before evidence, and mistake the management of outcomes for the pursuit of fairness. We refuse to accept this any longer. This paper, and the policy reform that will follow, will restore what has been lost.”

The new cabinet paper is being distributed across all Reform UK-controlled councils “in the hope that it can be used as a blueprint for similar local authority reforms”.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Councils are independent employers who are responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces.”

The Local Government Association said it did not comment on individual councils.