News Release
Legal Challenge Launched Over Civil Service Support for Pride
The Christian Institute Raises Concerns Over Impartiality, Calls for Ban on Rainbow Lanyards, Pronouns in Email Signatures and Pride Flags on Government buildings in Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont
Lawyers for The Christian Institute have notified Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald of their intention to seek judicial review of Civil Service participation in Pride events. They are also calling for an end to rainbow lanyards and ‘preferred pronouns’ in public-facing email signatures. The group says the practices breach rules on impartiality.
Its legal action, which will affect civil servants in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (see Notes for Editors), follows a recent High Court win against Northumbria Police by Linzi Smith, a gender-critical activist. Following the ruling, police forces have begun banning officers from official participation in Pride marches. Northumbria is also withdrawing police cars branded with rainbow and ‘progress’ flags. The Christian Institute is using the same law firm that won that case: Conrathe Gardner Solicitors.
The Newcastle-based Christian Institute, which has over 60,000 supporters across the UK, says lanyards, pronoun declarations and official participation in Pride all give the public the impression that civil servants have taken sides on controversial issues on which they ought, by law, to be impartial. The court in the Linzi Smith case found Pride and associated flags to be “political” and a breach of laws on police impartiality.
Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute, said:
“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, for example, attended by Whitehall-based civil servants, has even banned political parties because they don’t support its political demands, which include puberty blockers and gender self-ID. Other Pride marches around the UK have taken a similar approach. The association between Pride’s rainbow flag and controversial positions like these is so strong that many gay and lesbian people have rejected it. Similarly, declaring preferred pronouns to members of the public in official email signatures is a pointed display of allegiance to an ideology – one which the public increasingly rejects.
“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 the clashes between LGBTQ politics and the Christian faith. 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 Christian Institute argues that wearing rainbow lanyards, declaring preferred pronouns in public-facing emails and officially representing the Civil Service at Pride marches are clearly political and in breach of the law on Civil Service impartiality. Additionally, the social media feeds of Government departments feature images celebrating their participation in the movement.
Calvert pointed to Linzi Smith’s successful judicial review of Northumbria Police, saying:
“Involvement in Pride signals support for a highly contentious set of political demands. It is inappropriate for civil servants to be officially endorsing Pride.”
The Christian Institute has had previous success in bringing court challenges against the State, including a Supreme Court strike-down of the Scottish Government’s controversial ‘Named Person’ scheme.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
• The Civil Service Code issued under section 5 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 states:
‘The Civil Service is an integral and key part of the government of the United Kingdom. It supports the government of the day in developing and implementing its policies, and in delivering public services. Civil servants are accountable to ministers, who in turn are accountable to Parliament.
As a civil servant, you are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and are expected to carry out your role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. In this code:
○ integrity’ is putting the obligations of public service above your own personal interests
○ honesty’ is being truthful and open
○ objectivity’ is basing your advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
○ ‘impartiality’ is acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions
These core values support good government and ensure the achievement of the highest possible standards in all that the Civil Service does. This in turn helps the Civil Service to gain and retain the respect of ministers, Parliament, the public and its customers.
This code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of you and other civil servants. These are based on the core values which are set out in legislation. Individual departments may also have their own separate mission and values statements based on the core values, including the standards of behaviour expected of you when you deal with your colleagues.’…
“Impartiality
You must:
○ carry out your responsibilities in a way that is fair, just and equitable and reflects the Civil Service commitment to equality and diversity
You must not:
○ act in a way that unjustifiably favours or discriminates against particular individuals or interests
[Emphasis added]
• The Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality in the Civil Service of May 2024 states:
[31] ‘Partisan’, ‘political’, and ‘contested’ views are generally considered as those which are divisive in nature, based on a particular political ideology or movement, and for which there is no objective consensus. Advocacy of such views does not have to be limited to political parties and could also be led by campaign groups, lobbyists and charitable organisations on a wide range of matters such as economic and social issues at a local, national or international level.
[32] Where it is not clear what constitutes a partisan, political or contested view, we strongly recommend that civil servants seek advice from colleagues, line managers, and if necessary, senior managers. In diversity and inclusion delivery, civil servants need to ensure individual personal and political views do not, and are not perceived to, influence our advice or actions. We are committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination and grow a culture that welcomes challenge and demands rigour in how we assess delivery for citizens.
• According to gov.uk:
“Officials working for the governments of the UK, Scotland and Wales are part of the same Civil Service organisation and share the same culture and values as set out in the Civil Service Code for:
○ Scotland
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is a separate organisation and shares the same culture and values as set out in the Civil Service Code:
○ [Northern Ireland]”
“…The three territorial offices are the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland Office, and all are UK government departments.”
N.B. The Christian Institute has not written to the head of the separate Northern Ireland Civil Service. But any ruling in relation to the UK civil service would have implications for the NICS, since it has a similar duty of impartiality.
• In his ruling in Smith v Northumbria Police, Mr Justice Linden wrote:
“[130] Northern Pride clearly and strongly supports gender ideology and transgender rights and it campaigns accordingly, including for changes in law and policy which reflect its views. The 2024 March was, at the very least, partly organised as part of Northern Pride’s campaigning activities and to promote that agenda. Those who do not agree with the position of Northern Pride on transgender rights are not welcome on marches organised by Northern Pride. The participants in the March also appear to share the beliefs of Northern Pride and to support the aims of the transgender community. They marched, at least partly, because they wanted to demonstrate that this was the case and to express their support for the LGBTQIA+ cause. It is not necessary to describe this aspect of the March as “political” for the Claimant to succeed, but that is what it was.
“[131] If one then asks whether the officers’ activity of taking part in the March was likely to give rise to the impression amongst members of the public that it may interfere with their ability to discharge their duties impartially or, to use the words of Lord Griffiths in Champion, whether this was an activity which identified “those taking part with a particular interest or point of view in a way which will, or may be thought, make it difficult for them to deal fairly with those with whom they disagree….” the answer seems to me clearly to be “yes”. A key reason for taking part in the March was publicly to support the beliefs and aims which the March represented and sought to promote, and this was as true of the police officers who did so as it was of any other marchers. Moreover, the fact that they wore their uniforms, marched as a contingent, and carried the Police Pride and other flags demonstrated their support for the cause as police officers.”
• Scottish Parliament staff (who are not civil servants) are no longer permitted to wear rainbow lanyards at Holyrood. A parliamentary spokesman said that the decision was to help “avoid any potential misperception over the absolute impartiality of all Scottish parliamentary staff”. The 2023 code of conduct for parliamentary staff states: “You must not wear lanyards, pins or badges which show support for social movements, campaigns or organisations.”
• Polling showing public disagreement with gender ideology:
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/brits-increasingly-opposed-to-trans-ideology-survey-shows/