The Christian Institute has taken legal action against Keir Starmer, challenging civil service involvement in Pride marches. This follows a successful earlier case that ceased Northumbria Police’s participation in such events.
Keir Starmer, as Minister for the Civil Service, is named in the proceedings initiated by the Christian Institute. The group is leveraging a previous legal victory in July, where a judge declared the participation of uniformed officers in Pride as unlawful. This case was led by Linzi Smith, a gender critical lesbian, who argued that police participation in Pride could compromise public trust in their impartiality.
The Christian Institute is advocating for this precedent to be applied more broadly. They assert that civil servants attending Pride events while working and displaying “Civil Service pride” messages breach the impartiality that is expected of them.
The legal team representing the Christian Institute includes Conrathe Gardner LLP and Tom Cross KC, who previously secured the Northumbria ruling.
Simon Calvert, deputy director of The Christian Institute, stated, “The law is clear that civil servants must maintain impartiality on controversial political issues. Whether one agrees with it or not, no one can deny that the LGBTQ+ Pride movement and its hard-line gender ideology are profoundly political.
“Pride London, the one attended by Whitehall-based civil servants, even banned political parties because they don’t support their political demands, which include puberty blockers and gender self-ID. These are positions which the taxpayers who fund the Civil Service increasingly reject.”
Calvert expressed concerns over the visible support for the LGBT movement by government departments, noting, “I have been working in public policy for decades. I’ve been shocked by how many civil servants wear Pride lanyards in our meetings with them, even when those meetings are specifically about conflicts with that ideology,” he said.
“Sitting in front of a phalanx of civil servants in rainbow lanyards gives the impression that their minds are closed on the issues we are discussing. It certainly does not communicate the kind of neutrality that taxpayers expect of civil servants.”
The outcome of this case could have far-reaching effects on civil servants throughout the United Kingdom.
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
