2023-03-24
The Free Speech Union reports on the state of British policing, with specific reference to police training, today.
" ... the FSU’s latest research briefing has revealed that a majority of police forces conduct next to no training on freedom of speech while a disproportionate amount of police time is spent on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training"
"Thirty-two forces answered a question asking for details of the training carried out in relation to EDI"
" ... a further four stated that EDI was so highly integrated into every aspect of their training that it would exceed the cost limit of the Freedom of Information Act to extract the necessary information. Fourteen forces described EDI training as a “golden thread” running through every part of their training or reported that EDI was integral to standard training"
Oh dear.
So much for upholding the law without fear or favour.
Now it seems to me that there can be no objection to training the police in matters EDI, primarily in respect to the lawful and legal implications and where the boundaries vis à vis free speech lie (the primary function of the police being to uphold the law), but that should be balanced with what is either not lawful and/or not legal. The police need to know exactly where they stand when dealing with members of the public.
It also seems to me that these boundaries have for some years been (unfortunately but perhaps deliberately) obfuscated by those politicians and pundits with agendas to push.
That the police now assign priority to EDI in their training programmes is perhaps not surprising given the inroads that permissive ideologies have made into the public services, but that it should have been done in the majority of forces at the expense of training in the laws of freedom of speech, surely demonstrates how little regard the police now retain for the law.
Are we but one step away from a rogue government being able to co-opt the police to enforce unlawful agendas?
Read the full report here (download).
