Avon Fire Servive

'The only way we are ever going to have complete equality in the job market is to give people jobs based on merit, regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation.'

The targets were imposed by Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda in an attempt to make fire services more closely reflect the communities they serve.

Where's the ' shaking head' emoticon?

Moss

Mr Pearson pointed out that 98 per cent of those who picked up application forms on all 11 days were white males.

Well, walking into a burning building carrying a hose and wearing a turban isn't exactly sensible is it.

Looks to me like the ethnic minorities have much more common sense than the organisers of this event.

Is someone going to try and tell me that an Asian man who's wife and children are trapped by fire in the top floor of his house is going to turn away a fire crew merely because they are all white males?

I loved the comment "Some village has lost it's idiot".

Let's not confuse 'positive action' with 'positive discrimination'. Positive discrimination is not allowed, ie I must recruit a black person for this job to make the numbers up. That's not alllowed. Positive action is allowed, ie targeting an underrepresented group with open days or advertising campaigns. An example is Ken Livington noting a huge majority of Tube train drivers being male and, as there's no reason why that shoud be, ran open days tarketing women to improve the application numbers for woman.

That said, I don't think you can exclude. So days for 'non-whites' sounds a bit borderline! What are you going to do if a white person wanders in? Say, "Excuse me, non-whites only!" I don't think so...

Let's not confuse 'positive action' with 'positive discrimination'. Positive discrimination is not allowed, ie I must recruit a black person for this job to make the numbers up. That's not alllowed. Positive action is allowed, ie targeting an underrepresented group with open days or advertising campaigns. An example is Ken Livington noting a huge majority of Tube train drivers being male and, as there's no reason why that shoud be, ran open days tarketing women to improve the application numbers for woman.

That said, I don't think you can exclude. So days for 'non-whites' sounds a bit borderline! What are you going to do if a white person wanders in? Say, "Excuse me, non-whites only!" I don't think so...

The first two lines of the Link,

A fire service which banned white men from recruitment sessions to boost ethnic minority applicants has hired just one.

So I don't think I am confusing 'action' as opposed to ' discrimination', if you exclude a certain colour, race, ethnic group or whatever, that is discrimination, whichever kind of spin is put on it.

However, if you hold an 'open' day, in this case an oxymoron of first class origins and actively promote a certain gender within that, I do not have a problem, as long as you are engaging the best recruit from 'all' applications.

Moss

Let's also not forget, this is a 'Daily Mail' link!

Let's also not forget, this is a 'Daily Mail' link!

So the events of excluding certain areas of society have been dreamed up then?

Moss

Let's also not forget, this is a 'Daily Mail' link!

So the events of excluding certain areas of society have been dreamed up then?

Moss

No, but the daily mail has been guilty of many 'pc' crimes. Winterville springs to mind. The Daily mail is a hideous news paper. Every page has 'Jonnie Foreigner' comments!

Let's also not forget, this is a 'Daily Mail' link!

So the events of excluding certain areas of society have been dreamed up then?

Moss

No, but the daily mail has been guilty of many 'pc' crimes. Winterville springs to mind. The Daily mail is a hideous news paper. Every page has 'Jonnie Foreigner' comments!

I know where suegha is coming from. There are certain elements of the British press, Daily Mail being a prime example, who's xenophobia makes Thailand look like the most open nation on earth. They take every opportunity to denigrate anything done by non-white British citizens and use every mis-quote or out of context quote to misrepresent views counter to their own editorial position.

Having said that there are some right clowns amongst the PC brigade.

Interesting point regarding, say, a white person going along to a non-whites open day. I'm surprised the BNP didn't pick up on that one.

I am not sure if I am missing something here but I can only say that I know of the Mails inadequacies through word of mouth, because I would never but the rag in the first place.

However, not only is it reported on other web fora and the BBC news where I first heard of it and so it is not the information source I am railing against, but the actions of the people supposedly in charge of the Fire Service.

Moss

It was certainly badly done regardless of the reporting source.