The implementation of the hideous US policy of 'affirmative action' aka 'positive discrimination' has gained serious ground in woke Britain this year. As always this is being driven by the left and being enthusiastically adopted by organisations that place virtue signalling above common sense. How can any form of discrimination be 'positive'? Well apparently it can be viewed in such a light as long as those being discriminated against are white. And given how diversity targets are set, that's exactly what happens.
From policing to broadcast media to football coaching, these diversity targets aim to make workplaces representative of the ethnic make-up of the population. The old adage of 'best man (or woman) for the job' will be excommunicated from the English language and instead people will be recruited on the basis of their skin colour as opposed to skills and experience.
While the magic diversity number is generally somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent, Sadiq Khan has seriously upped the ante in London. He's instructed the Metropolitan Police to increase its BAME target from the current 19 per cent to a whopping 40 per cent. This is based on an estimate of the current BAME population make-up of London. If Khan wanted a more accurate reflection there is a census next year, but of course his virtue signalling cannot wait until then. He is still riding on the crest of the BLM wave and there is an election in six months' time. Khan has given the Met just two years to adapt to his new reality.
Of course the concept of 'positive discrimination' only applies in areas of employment where white people are over-represented. So Khan is not likely to instruct Transport for London to start knocking back black applicants because they are already over-represented as bus drivers. The NHS is not going to turn down BAME nurse applicants in favour of white applicants in order to 'more accurately reflect the population'. No, it will be acceptable to have BAME over-representation as long as there is not white over-representation. At a time when white working class people are one of the most deprived demographics in this country, the implementation of policies that will restrict their employment prospects even further is surely going to make for a more harmonious society. Not.
