Plan B Forum

Council bosses are being asked to imagine they are English economic migrants in the fictitious region of Sindia, or go on an ‘adventure in Lesbian-andgayland’ as part of publicly-funded training sessions on equality and diversity.

More than 30 managers from Brighton and Hove City Council have been on the two-day ‘Leading on Diversity’ course in the past year – at a cost of several thousand pounds.

In the session entitled Adventures in Sindia, the English Exodus, staff are asked to imagine that it is 2030 and the ‘world is a very different place’.

In this scenario, much of the South-East of England and East Anglia is under water.

Millions of English families desperate for work have been forced to uproot to Sindia, an economic federation which is made up of China and India.

All the participants are asked to imagine that they are a seven-year-old child called Sarah Hardy, whose family has just moved to Delhi.

They are also warned that the English are largely despised in India because they have a reputation for ‘illegality, criminality, cultural conservatism and an inability to learn the host language’.

The course material states: ‘Your seventh birthday was a miserable occasion. Your parents invited all the children in your class to a party. All but one failed to turn up and none sent an RSVP.

‘The only child who came was a Jewish girl from Hungary. Somehow you felt that she understood what you were going through, even though you never talked about it.’

The course attendees are told that while in Sindia they can expect to hear comments such as: ‘Why do you insist on eating that bland food? What you need is a good masala’, ‘Do your parents really force you to drink alcohol at the age of ten?’, and ‘What do you call an English virgin? A contradiction in terms’.

In the other session, staff are asked to imagine that ‘while asleep one night they have slipped through a wormhole in space’ and woken up in a parallel world where it is normal to be lesbian or gay.

They are told that they are now in a country where ‘heterosexual teachers are very reluctant to come out’, ‘the ideal family consists of a lesbian or gay male couple’, and ‘that conceiving a child by heterosexual intercourse is viewed with distaste’.

They are then asked to consider how they would respond if people asked them: ‘What do you actually do in bed?’, ‘Don’t you think heterosexuality may be a phase you are going through?’, and ‘Is it possible that what you need is a good gay lover?’

The course for staff at Brighton and Hove Council was organised and run by Aziz Associates, a training consultancy founded in 1996.

The company is run by Razia Aziz, 45, a politics graduate, and clients include health trusts, local councils and Government departments.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... yland.html

In the other session, staff are asked to imagine that ‘while asleep one night they have slipped through a wormhole in space’ and woken up in a parallel world where it is normal to be lesbian or gay.

They are told that they are now in a country where ‘heterosexual teachers are very reluctant to come out’, ‘the ideal family consists of a lesbian or gay male couple’, and ‘that conceiving a child by heterosexual intercourse is viewed with distaste’.

loCAtek wrote:What? I think it's brilliant (seriously). I was ready to scoff too then after reading it sounds like it could work.

loCAtek wrote:You don't believe in role-play therapy, gob?

Institutional racism is still systemic in Britain's police forces, politics and media, despite the lessons supposedly learnt from the Stephen Lawrence murder eight years ago, according to a report today by the 43-nation Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance.

In a study focusing on racial discrimination in the UK, the commission calls for full implementation of promised government reforms. Britain's right-wing media is singled out, for its "consistent inflammatory attacks on asylum-seekers and migrants coming to the United Kingdom".

The commission also attacks "the tone of discourse resorted to by politicians in support of the adoption and enforcement of increasingly restrictive asylum and immigration laws".

Such moves "have played a fundamental role" in fostering a xenophobic climate in Britain against foreigners, the study says. "Politicians should not only avoid promoting the general assumption that most asylum claimants are not genuine, but also the vilification of those who are not considered by the authorities to have valid asylum claims and are sometimes defined as 'economic migrants', 'economic refugees' or 'bogus asylum-seekers'.

loCAtek wrote:The word is 'sexist', and you brought up the tolerance courses,'eh?

You don't want to know what I think, then don't post the subject for comment.

The Vienna-based organisation found that attitudes towards immigrant communities had hardened considerably in Britain compared with a similar study in 1997, which suggested that the country was one of the most tolerant in Europe.

In the 15-nation study, Britons ranked above only two countries, the Irish Republic and Greece, in believing that immigrant communities enriched a country's culture. In its analysis of attitudes in Britain, the authors said: "There is a lower level of acceptance where refugees and persons seeking political asylum are concerned."

Institutional racism is still systemic in Britain's police forces, politics and media, despite the lessons supposedly learnt from the Stephen Lawrence murder eight years ago, according to a report today by the 43-nation Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance.

In a study focusing on racial discrimination in the UK, the commission calls for full implementation of promised government reforms. Britain's right-wing media is singled out, for its "consistent inflammatory attacks on asylum-seekers and migrants coming to the United Kingdom".

The commission also attacks "the tone of discourse resorted to by politicians in support of the adoption and enforcement of increasingly restrictive asylum and immigration laws".

In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court made employers more liable for sexual harassment of their employees. Moreover, The Society for Human Resource Management has reported that 62% of companies now offer sexual harassment prevention training programs, and 97% have a written sexual harassment policy.

Statistics

Below is a brief listing of recent harassment statistics. However, it is important to point out that these
only discuss formal complaints, and that the vast number of sexual harassment situations go
unreported.

The number of grievance filed with the EEOC has gradually decreased over the last decade. In 1997,
close to 16,000 charges were filed. In fiscal year 2007, this number dropped to 12,510.
(See a comprehensive listing of current EEOC harassment statistics.)

Town Hall bosses are asking staff to take part in a 'heterosexuality quiz' so they can gain a greater understanding of what it is like to be gay. The quiz, devised by managers at Buckinghamshire County Council, is part of an equality and diversity course called 'Respecting Sexuality'.

Questions, which are described as a 'twist' on those routinely asked of homosexuals, include 'What do you think caused your heterosexuality?', 'Is it possible your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?', and 'If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?'

The Buckinghamshire council course is just one of a series of publicly funded equality and diversity sessions uncovered in a series of Freedom of Information requests by The Mail on Sunday.

Cardiff, Slough and Cheshire West and Cheshire councils have also incorporated quizzes in their sessions. In Slough, employees ask colleagues questions from a specially prepared grid such as 'Can you sing a few lines from a Supremes song?' and 'Do you read The Guardian?'

Staff at Cardiff City Council are challenged to name the inventor of the 'great British classic car the Mini', and to identify the symbol used to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Matthew Sinclair, director of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: 'With huge pressure on the public finances, and council tax nearly doubled over the last decade, it is vital that councils show they can start cutting back on waste to keep down taxes and avoid unnecessary pressure on services.

'To see councils wasting money on such a ludicrous, politically-correct exercise in that environment is disgusting. 'Ensuring that councils don't discriminate doesn't require such insane attempts at a superficial understanding of different communities.'

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire County Council said its quiz was devised to help staff in its adoption service. He was unable to say how many had taken part or at what cost.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0zwle44GY

More than 30 managers from Brighton and Hove City Council have been on the two-day ‘Leading on Diversity’ course in the past year – at a cost of several thousand pounds.