Blue Labour Group Urges Ministers to 'Root Out DEI' Initiatives in Public Bodies

The Labour faction influencing Downing Street's pitch to Reform UK voters has urged ministers to "root out DEI".

- Chris Osuh

An article from the Blue Labour campaign group, titled What is to be Done, calls for the government to legislate against diversity, equity and inclusion, echoing the right-wing backlash from Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.

Describing itself as part of a tradition of "conservative socialism", the caucus was founded in 2009 by the academic Maurice Glasman, now a Labour peer. It includes the MPs Dan Carden, Jonathan Brash, Jonathan Hinder and David Smith, who represent seats in the north of England.

Keir Starmer's turn to the right and framing of Labour as "the party of patriotism" mirror Blue Labour thinking.

Urging the party to renew its "covenant with the British people", Blue Labour's article said: "We are proud of our multiracial democracy and we utterly reject divisive identity politics, which undermines the bonds of solidarity between those of different sexes, races and nationalities.

"We should legislate to root out DEI in hiring practices, sentencing decisions and wherever else we find it in our public bodies."