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Westminster City Council has been branded "divisive" after telling staff to complete a "white privilege" test, as part of efforts to combat unconscious bias against ethnic minorities.The Labour-run council is seeking to boost its recruitment of "global majority" candidates for senior roles, insiders have claimed.FULL STORY HERE.
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0:00
There's a bit of debate about this, right, because Westminster Council are denying this, but it's been reported, so therefore I am definitely discussing my pub tonight
0:08
Apparently they're asking staff to take a so-called white privilege test. Now this is all about, they're trying to recruit and make sure that they're recruiting people from the now so-called global majority
0:20
And it's asking questions. I did this test, by the way, and apparently it tells me that I'm moderately privileged
0:26
It's asking you, did your parents or your guardians read to you
0:32
when you was a child? Do you have to take annual leave for your religious holiday
0:37
Is English your first language? Do you have an illness or a disability? Are you a carer
0:41
Have you ever been stopped and searched by the police? Do you shop at Waitrose or Marks and Spencers
0:46
Are you a white male and so on and so forth? And that's how you get your calculator
0:51
Who even does do all the food shopping at Waitrose or Marks and Spencers? Who even is that posh
0:55
Actually, I do most of my food shopping at Waitrose. Oh, well, that's a surprise. Really
1:00
Well, it's... I do the daily stuff at Baby Sainsbury's because it's just up the road from me
1:08
But, yeah, I... No, Waitrose on Max and Spam. No no no What I saying is When I had a car I went to Waitrose every week Right And it is in walking distance but I don go there that often Good job you don have the champagne
1:21
because going to Waitrose with champagne, you'd be going Labour champagne socialist
1:25
I know. Well, you know, I... What do you think of these kind of tests, though
1:29
and people doing... I think they're abysmal. I think they're divisive. I've always felt that anyone that tries to over-egg the pudding
1:37
on what used to be called BAME... The idea... We just had a brief discussion about it
1:40
When I was younger, I was called quarter-caste. My father was half-caste
1:44
We then had people who were black. Then you were called mixed-race, which I hated
1:48
because it always sounded like a bag of sweets, a mixed bag of sweets. Now you've got global majority
1:53
And there was a poet, sadly I can't remember, a black poet who said, why is the Labour Party and the left
1:59
continually changing my own heritage in this country by the colour that are basing me on my colour
2:05
And I think that's the problem. in trying to be fair and equal and open, you've gone too far
2:13
This is no longer necessary in this country to have this sort of test
2:17
When you can see sportsmen representing this country from any colour that you have
2:22
when you've got prime ministers of different nationalities, sorry different religions and all across the spectrum at one stage Business leaders lawyers doctors So the idea that you need to look at white privilege is a nonsense
2:37
and it's a small minority of people who still cling to this idea
2:42
that you need to indoctrinate white people, that they have privilege and that they are not racist
2:49
OK, so first of all, can I say, having read and re-read the article
2:54
and actually tried to get hold of Westminster City Council but failed, is this is on their intranet
3:00
It's on their staff intranet. It's not put on by some big person
3:06
It's just that somebody obviously put it on. It's got very little about race, actually
3:11
And, frankly, I mean, you know, I'm sure... Well, I can tell you that black people shop at Waitrose
3:18
because I meet a lot of black people when I shop at Waitrose. I mean, one of the..
3:22
Exactly the point. That's exactly the point, isn't it? It's not necessary
3:27
No. What a lot of young people say is, check your privilege
3:33
And it's not about what, it's not about colour, actually. It's about all sorts of things
3:38
which is why were you read to as a child? So yes I read books to my children I not sure I mean frankly my mum had five children In eight years I doubt she read to me I was the first But actually I know my children are privileged
3:55
I mean, they've had a life where they were expected to go to university
3:59
They were expected to do well. I just think it's fine. But that's economic privilege
4:04
not necessarily because of the colour of your skin. Stephen, I know you haven't seen this
4:09
This is very, very little. about colour. This is a lot... I appreciate that
4:17
Do you shop at Waitrose? Were you red thing? Do you take time off for a religious holiday
4:24
Which is not about colour. Yes, but hold on, because the part of this, one of the reasons it's on the internet and stuff like that
4:30
is because it's part of their quest when it comes to their recruitment practices to make sure that they are, in part
4:37
reflecting the demographic of their... What's it called? Their... Not constituents, but..
4:42
Well, they're borough. And actually making sure that they have people recruited
4:47
from the so-called non-global... Sorry, the global majority. The global majority, which is a nonsense race
4:53
But, Michelle, this has got... The two of them have been put together
4:57
and this is on the intranet, and you can... What section is it on
5:01
What section is it in under the intranets
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