Poppycock

 Here is an article about wokeness and diversity in the Armed Forces. 

I am appalled at the level of wokeness that has infiltrated our Armed Forces which damages morale and weakens effectiveness.

Having served in the Army, I know that all we cared about was whether the man or woman to our left and right could do the job.

The problem with this focus on diversity is that it creates division where there is none. 

I experienced massive discrimination in my early years of lorry driving. I was continually judged by my appearance, and questioned how I managed to carry out tasks that required some physical strength. I always said there are right and wrong ways of doing things. Watch, learn, take all the information on board then work out how best to lift heavy things, rope and sheet a 40 foot trailer, strap and chain loads down. It didn't matter that I was not as muscular as a man. 

I remember my first rope and sheet job. I was delivering food to a Co op warehouse in Nottingham. I joined the queue of trucks and prepared for unloading, they had a fork lift truck so that was good. I then removed the ropes and sheets and pulled them down to the ground. After folding the sheets I asked the driver in front of me if he would give me a hand to lift them onto the back of the trailer. His reply took me by surprise. He said, 'you chose the fucking job, you do it'. I quickly learnt how to lift safely. 

Fast forward a few years and there was a shortage of HGV drivers. I saw in the transport press that BP Oil were offering ten free courses to women who wanted to go through the training to get an HGV licence. I felt that was unfair discrimination to men and I said so in a letter which was published in the following Transport News. 

The main stream media picked up on that and I was invited to go to the television studios in London to discuss it on a morning chat programme, with representatives from BP Oil. The programme went out live so I was able to challenge them. The two women from BP didn't get much chance to promote their diversity inclusion training programme. I shot them down. The presenter was more interested in my driving career. 

So when I see such poppycock about selecting people for a job because of their colour, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, or disability it annoys me. It does not matter what a person looks like, it's their attitude towards learning the job, their ability to adjust to the tasks they are paid to undertake, and what they can bring to the job. 

Forget quotas. All this inclusion stupidity is a distraction to what is really going on. 

EDIT. Changed my mind. It's not a distraction. It's part of the plan. I can guess what comes next. 

Have a great day. Toodle pip.   ilona