The London Fire Brigade has been pursuing a policy of covert positive discrimination for many years. I know quite a number of people currently serving in the LFB and it is quite clear from what they tell me that, although not officially admitted, white men need not apply for a job in the LFB.
The LFB proudly trumpets that “We want people from all backgrounds who can do the job, regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, faith or religion and age.” However, look beneath the headlines and the suggestion is that they already have enough white British males and some more covert moves are afoot. From their website:
“We are actively encouraging more women and people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities to think about firefighting as a career and hold targeted open days at designated weekends throughout the year. These one day events give potential women and BME trainee firefighters the opportunity to explore the role,”
These events are not open to white men so the “opportunity to explore the role” is not available to them. This has been going on since at least 2008. This document:
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/HRE305.pdf
explains some of the knots in which the authorities have been tied. Although this refers to the “Other White” category as the problem being addressed, there is frequent mention of “diversity targets” and other such nonsense. Among the drivel:
“The respondents who raised this issue were particularly concerned that in many instances these particular communities had specific language and cultural needs which differed from other established White groups within the community. They stressed the importance of establishing strong links with these communities in order to deliver effective fire safety advice and to achieve a balance in recruitment which better reflected the diversity of their communities. In the light of these considerations the “Other White” category has been included as part of the recruitment target requirement. “
Just what specific “language and cultural needs which differed from other established White groups within the community” do these groups exhibit (apart from somebody to provide translation services for non-English speakers)? Bear in mind that this is talking about recruitment to a force which will principally be involved with extinguishing the flames when their homes have caught light or advising them not to leave the chip oil unattended and where to stick a smoke alarm. It is not entirely clear why only “one of their own” would be able to do this effectively.
The entire business diverting resources to ensure workforces “reflect the community they serve” has reached epidemic proportions in the public sector. The jobs are there. They are open to all comers (er...except white British males, that is). If people from BME backgrounds don’t want to do them then that’s that.