Fashionable ideology pushes men to margins as feminised institutions weakened

OPINION

The woke mania for social engineering maintains its grip on public sector recruitment, as illustrated by the latest scandal involving the West Yorkshire police, which reportedly imposed a temporary ban on applications from white candidates in order to boost diversity. The whole policy is Orwellian in its absurdity. Discrimination cannot be overcome by more discrimination.

What compounds this outrage is the hypocritical selectivity of officialdom’s politically correct zealots. While they blather about glass ceilings and female empowerment, they are supremely indifferent to the immense gender imbalances that prevail in several of our key public services such as education where three quarters of teachers are women, while just one in seven primary school teachers are men.

Equally glaring is the absence of men in social work, where 83% of professionals are female, and in the probation service, in which women account for 76% of the workforce. The feminisation of key state institutions weakens their capacity to maintain order and protect the vulnerable.

After all, crime is not an equal opportunities activity but is overwhelmingly perpetrated by tough young men. Robustness is needed in response to this reality, just as we should face up to the fact that so many boys growing up in fatherless families need strong male role models. That is precisely what they are not getting as fashionable ideology pushes men to the margins.

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One of the most compelling scenes in Mel Gibson’s epic film The Passion of the Christ occurs when Pontious Pilate, the Governor of Judea, is confronted by a volatile crowd in Jerusalem after the conviction of Jesus for sedition. According to local Judaic tradition, at the time of Passover, the people could demand the governor pardon one prisoner they had selected. In this case, Pilate gave them the choice between Jesus and an infamous criminal known as Barabbas.

The mob went for Barabbas, thereby condemning Christ to his agonising death on the cross and revealing their preference for primitive darkness over the light of civilisation.

Looking at the violent chaos that has been inflicted on modern Europe by our political class through their attachment to open borders and their disdain for our heritage, Pilate’s words “You have chosen Barabbas” seem all too appropriate. As Christianity dies, the spirit of Barabbas lives on in the northern rape gangs, in the drug-fuelled anarchy of Parisien suburbs, and in Sweden’s descent into communal violence.

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THE worst act of sabotage at the Scunthorpe steel plant came from Ed Miliband’s net zero policy that has inflicted the highest energy prices in the world on British industry. Yet this is just the latest blunder in a political career of remarkable self-destructiveness.

Other disasters include wrecking the leadership bid of his more able brother David, running his dismal 2015 election campaign and his botched membership reform which enabled Jeremy Corbyn to become leader. So why on earth does his party continue to indulge him?

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The ecstatic welcome in Belfast for Rory McIlroy, the new US Masters champion, was richly deserved. He is the finest sportsman to come out of Ulster since George Best. The difference is that Best tragically squandered his talent, whereas McIlroy has shown astonishing resilience and determination on his way to Grand Slam glory.