Esther McPhee made two huge mistakes when she spoke about diversity today on live television.
The Tory MP – who held the unofficial title of “Common Sense Minister” in the last government – told BBC Politics Live that she agreed with US President Donald Trump’s decision to scrap diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) plans.
“The new agenda is MEA – merit, excellence and intelligence,” she said.
The correct abbreviation for this is not MEA but rather MEI.
But McVeigh didn’t seem to realize her mistake, and just continued: “You should have the best person for the job, not do tokens and quotas, and we shouldn’t have a distinction with another distinction, so I’ll go ahead – DEI in the past.”
Presenter Joe Coburn replied: “True, I tried to ban civil servants – or certainly restrict civil servants – from wearing rainbow colored ribbons when I was Common Sense Minister.”
McVey, who was appointed a Cabinet Office minister without portfolio by Rishi Sunak in November 2023, announced a ban on multi-coloured ropes – used to show support for the LGBTQ+ community – in May last year.
She said at the time that she was determined to deal with “the left-wing warriors who have awakened the political right” in the public sector.
“I want to make a very simple but obvious change to the ropes we use to carry our security passes [which] “Picking and mixing should not be random,” McPhee said last spring, adding: “The focus should be on a happy, inclusive work environment and increased productivity.”
But when Coburn reminded him of this event today, McVeigh just said, “Okay, let’s get to the point, instead of focusing on the extraneous part.”
“Well, it was your gimmick!” Coburn replied.
But the MP insisted, saying that civil servants “are not meant to be politicians” and that “any kind of badge or lanyard is political.”
“I said we wouldn’t have any rope — and I wasn’t saying this rope on top of that, so people wearing Palestinian clothing or LGBT clothing — just no rope,” she said.