It has emerged that as part of GCHQ’s new recruitment drive, only people ‘from an ethnic minority background or women’ will be invited to register their provisional interest for a role in its IT department. GCHQ have said that following the preliminary registration period of several weeks, the job would then be open to applicants from all backgrounds.
This move has received a considerable amount of backlash. It has been labelled ‘completely unacceptable’ by Philip Davies MP for Shipley. Mr Davies MP also called GCHQ ‘morons. He said :’It is completely unacceptable. It is disgraceful to be perfectly honest. Why they think they should be able to discriminate on grounds of race and sex is beyond me’. GCHQ has defended itself by maintaining that their job post is in accordance with the Equality Act because the initial phase is not a job advert ‘but a registration of interest.’
A note stating that the registration of interest was only open to ‘those from an ethnic minority background and women’ was highlighted in bold twice at the beginning and end of the posting.
The post read: ‘At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodiverse conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce.’
UNN’s Oliver Down understands that the post now says: ‘Please note this Registration of Interest is only open to those from an ethnic minority background or women from any ethnic background. Following a Registration of Interest period of several weeks, we will open this role for applications. At this stage, applications from candidates of all ethnicities and genders will be welcome’.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
[sibwp_form id=4]
