Tuesday 16 October 2018

The Dark Side Of Positive Discrimination...

Chinyere Inyama, who was Britain’s first black coroner, was suspended on full pay from his £120,000 post as Senior West London Coroner in October 2016 following complaints about his behaviour.
After a 14-month inquiry, he was reinstated in December 2017 by the coroners’ watchdog, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), and ordered to undergo retraining.
Which hasn't sat well with his colleagues. And seems odd to me too, particularly in light of some other cases where such leniency hasn't been forthcoming....
Five sitting coroners, none of whom are permitted to speak publicly, have told The Mail on Sunday that they believe Mr Inyama’s Nigerian heritage lies behind the decision not to dismiss him.
Well, why not? After all, it was what got him the job in the first place!
‘It’s no secret Inyama got the West London job because of positive discrimination. Others were better suited,’ claimed one.
‘But there was a feeling in the coronial service that more should be done to boost diversity ... Diversity now seems the reason it’s proving impossible to get rid of him.’
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Former chief coroner Sir Peter Thornton was said to have been an observer when Inyama was interviewed for the West London post.
‘He knew about Inyama’s past,’ said the source. ‘But neither he nor Inyama mentioned it. There was a reasonable expectation Thornton would be frank about Inyama’s history. He doesn’t seem to have been.’
 That 'past' referred to? Well, it's a murky one, all right.
A council source claimed the Inyama scandal has cost his employer, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, almost £500,000.
Nope, not even close. It's cost the taxpayer. Just as it always does.

4 comments:

Dr Evil said...

This diversity PC nonsense has to stop. So this bloke was appointed because he sort of fitted the role and especially was black too. Not the best fit but he was black. Tick that damn box! Turns out he was incompetent too. But once ticked the diversity box cannot be unticked because of the one ton egg replacing the sword of Damocles over the head of his boss who appointed him. What a stupid turn of events.

Brian, follower of Deornoth said...

I recall even back in the eighties this sort of nonsense was already widespread. A lecturer at Brent College got the sack when he recommended his dog for promotion on the grounds it was "mostly black".

Jim said...

Friend of mine was a probation officer back in the late 90s, early 00s. He said this sort of thing was going on then - black candidates being preferred for promotions over far better qualified staff. It was one of the reasons he resigned in the end and left. And before he left he had a meeting with his boss, a black guy who had been promoted despite being sh*t at his job. In this meeting he asked him what it felt like to know that the only reason he'd got his promotion was the colour of his skin. The guy had the decency to look sheepish and not make a scene, because I guess the reality was he knew why he'd got the job.

This sort of stuff is very corrosive. Imagine you're an ethnic minority candidate for coroner in London today, and you get the job on merit, because you're the best qualified candidate. Everyone's going to assume the only reason you got it because of your skin colour and you're actually useless. It devalues the genuine achievements of ethnic minorities and is in fact a very racist attitude - its basically saying 'All you darkies are too stupid or incompetent (or both) to be able to get a senior position by merit, so we'll have hand it to you on a plate instead'.

JuliaM said...

"This diversity PC nonsense has to stop. "

Says anyone with any sense. But there seems no stopping it.

"I recall even back in the eighties this sort of nonsense was already widespread. "

It's now unstoppable.

"The guy had the decency to look sheepish and not make a scene..."

Can you imagine what would happen today?!