Enter Darren Grimes, former GB News pundit turned Reform councillor.
In a recent ‘exclusive,’GB News claimed Nigel Farage is on the brink of a “victory” over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), hailing a plan by Reform UK councillors in Durham to strip away so-called “woke” training. The broadcaster reports that Durham County Council is preparing to overhaul its training programme for all 98 councillors, effectively ending compulsory DEI and climate modules.
According to GB News, council leader Andrew Husband has welcomed the move, calling it a “positive” decision and confirming that portfolio names referencing climate change and equality will be removed.
“These modules do not align with our objectives,” Husband told the outlet, adding that Reform councillors have found a legal workaround in the “small print” that allows them to meet only the bare “minimum requirements” to remain compliant.
The report reaffirms what Farage has already stated publicly that Reform councillors are being actively instructed to push back against DEI and climate-related training. One unnamed Reform source in Durham went further, claiming the training amounted to “being lectured about unconscious bias, white privilege, and how traditional values are supposedly harmful.”
Enter Darren Grimes, former GB News pundit turned Reform councillor, who told the outlet, “I was elected to serve my constituents, not to attend political re-education camps.” He added: “The idea that refusing DEI training could lead to sanctions shows how far our institutions have fallen.”
The tone of the piece is unsurprising triumphalist, painting this procedural change as a populist win. But it is of course part of the broader ideological campaign to dismantle long-standing commitments to equality and inclusion in public life.
While the article briefly acknowledges that Farage’s position has drawn criticism from trade unions, it’s treated as a side note rather than a serious counterpoint. It quotes Unison general secretary Christina McAnea, who leads the national Protect DEI campaign, stating: “We have laws that protect workers, and strong unions that will always stand up for their members.”
But what the piece fails to include, unsurprisingly, is any real engagement with why DEI exists in the first place. The benefits of DEI initiatives are well-documented, including happier and more engaged employees, better collaboration, increased innovation, improved decision-making, reduced workplace conflict, and stronger retention rates, to name just a few.
But facts rarely get in the way of right-wing attacks on DEI. Reform and its media allies continue to dismiss empirically grounded workplace practices as ideological overreach, ignoring not just the law, but the evidence. Then again, from GB News, no one expects a fair hearing.
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