Reform UK-controlled town halls across England plan to dismantle Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) schemes, aiming to re-establish a focus on meritocracy, according to a senior MP. This initiative, starting with Staffordshire County Council, is intended as a blueprint for over 30 other authorities now led by the party.
Leaders at Staffordshire County Council have committed to removing EDI measures and ideology from their operations. The plan includes discontinuing all EDI training modules and disbanding staff support groups based on identity. Recruitment processes will be re-evaluated to prioritize merit over what they term 'positive action measures,' and symbolic actions like awareness campaigns and branding will be eliminated.
Cllr Martin Murray, leader of Staffordshire County Council, stated in a report that the council had shifted from a principle of equality before the law towards what he described as the 'contested political ideology of EDI.' He asserted that this shift would end under Reform UK leadership.
Suella Braverman, Reform UK's equalities spokesman and a former Cabinet minister, expressed support for the move, describing it as a restoration of fairness and common sense. Speaking at an event in Staffordshire, Braverman indicated that councils governed by Reform UK are seeking solutions to curb 'virtue signalling' and 'identity politics' prevalent in local government.
"We want Reform to become the byword for meritocracy, the byword for common sense and Reform councils to be flagship councils for undoing a lot of the nonsense that was started under Labour and perpetuated by the Conservatives," Braverman said. She acknowledged that council staff might resist these changes and urged elected councillors to remain resolute.
Braverman also noted limitations imposed by the existing Equality Act, which she has pledged to repeal if Reform UK comes to power. However, she believes that local authorities can still set a standard for reintroducing common sense into local government. She characterized the 2010 Equality Act as having had good intentions but ultimately becoming a 'disaster for fairness' and detrimental to the public and private sectors.