Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg declared a crusade against "ridiculous" diversity training for public servants. He has ordered the government development hub to revamp those courses that "are subject to mockery", and add training that would develop skills useful for the civil servants' job.
"There will be a new [training] curriculum coming which will stop these absurd courses being available. And they are particularly in diversity and wellness areas", Rees-Mogg told the Telegraph.
Among the programs targeted by the politician is 'Check Yo Privilege', which he called "in its very name a politicized course". It is run by the Cabinet Office and teaches officials to be aware of their own backgrounds when talking about British society. Another workshop mentioned by Rees-Mogg was run by the legal department and offered officials to imagine a "Japanese gay grandfather" in an exercise on empathy.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, now Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Secretary, leaves a cabinet meeting on September 7 2021
© AP Photo / Matt Dunham / Jacob Rees-Mogg, now Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Secretary, leaves a cabinet meeting on September 7 2021
The minister stressed that the absurd courses deserve the mockery, since they "damage the whole ethos of the Civil Service" and cost taxpayers money.
"I think the course was to explain to people how they’d had an unfair advantage in life and wasn’t that awful? But try and think of the opposite", he added. he added. "What if you had a course, let’s say: 'Celebrate your inner Eurosceptic?' The Civil Service would be outraged. But it’s comparatively a political subject".
While he can't directly order the canceling of the programs since they are controlled by departments Rees-Mogg noted he would ask secretaries of state to review them.