Home Office civil servants were invited to spend five hours at Black History events in October and were told to celebrate the Black community “every day”, GB News can reveal.
The department wrote to staff outlining four Black History Month events, which aimed “to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of the Black community”.
The workshops are held during working hours and open to all civil servants in the Home Office.
The department wrote to staff on 1 October an email describing Black History Month as “a time to honour and celebrate the rich cultural heritage, achievements, and contributions of Black individuals throughout history”.
Home Office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft Home Office
The memo stated that throughout October the Home Office “will host a series of events and activities designed to educate, inspire, and engage our community”.
The theme of the events is “Reclaiming Narratives” which aims to allow “people of Black heritage to take ownership of their stories, making sure that their voices are heard, experiences acknowledged, and contributions recognised”.
The note continued: “We encourage everyone to participate and learn more about the significant impact of Black history and culture.”
“By doing so, we not only honour the past but also contribute to a more equitable and inclusive future.”
The Home Office is spending billions of taxpayers’ money housing asylum seekersGetty
Civil servants were then urged to “celebrate and support the Black community, not just this month, but every day”.
“This droll is little more than an excuse for overpaid civil servants to enjoy a few days of self-indulgent back slapping,” Robert Bates, a political commentator told GB News.
“Robert Jenrick is right, the Home Office needs to be buried deep into the history books. Its Permanent Secretary, Matthew Rycroft, should be retired and a proper department committed to ending mass migration put in its place.”
He continued: “Rycroft, the Home Office Race Champion, is obsessed with promoting woke nonsense to his civil servants using taxpayer money, and it is totally unacceptable.”
“Our country is no longer governed by towering intellects, but rather a cohort of supine twenty-somethings who have little ambition for this country than to debase it into a depressing pit of superficial multiculturalism.”
The four events include a discussion about “who are at the forefront of championing race equality, diversity, and inclusion within the Civil Service”.
Civil servants are given the opportunity to meet leading officials who promote their agenda on race and diversity across Whitehall, including: “the Chair of [the Environmental Agency] Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network, Chair of the [MoJ] RaceUnited Network, Co-Chair of the [Department for Science] Ethnic Diversity Staff Network, Chair of the [Department for Education] Ethnic Equalities Network, and the Co-Chair of the [Department for Energy] Faith and Minority Ethnic Network”.
Another workshop will feature a discussion of “the career progression of Black, Asian, and other females of ethnic origin working in the Home Office”, and an event on 24 October entitled ‘Blow Your Own Trumpet’ will discuss CV writing.
Connor Tomlinson, a commentator from the Lotus Eaters website, said: “Learning that the Home Office spends work hours on racial grievance activism makes me not want to pay taxes.”
“Judging by the Labour government’s silence on Dawn Butler’s bizarre poem, I can only assume the materials are filled with lies about British history and White people.”
“The promise of equity makes this entire project sound like the pursuit of race-based communism, which won’t be too popular with the British public.”
“I suppose we shouldn’t be shocked that the country is run so badly if this is what preoccupies civil servants’ time.”
Civil servants were warned to “think before you post” in the Black History Month email discussing the events.
Staff were told that while “debate is welcomed” people must be “be sensible and be nice” and should avoid “trolling and politics”.
The Home Office has been accused of pushing ‘woke’ ideas on civil servants in recent years.
In July GB News revealed that the department handed out packs of ‘Inclusion Cards’ to staff which featured prompts about diversity and safe spaces.
Civil servants were told to use the cards before meetings and questions included “What does diversity at work mean to me?”, “What do I need to feel that I belong?”, “What are the benefits of diversity for our team?”, “What does equality mean to me?” and “How often do I promote equality?”.
The Home Office were approached for comment.