The overriding concern

To a long list of things which must be considered before any action can be taken, a new one has been added recently.

Iain Dale in his blog today tells of another - there has now to be be a "race and gender impact assessment" on top of all the others on health and safety, energy, environement, etc.

He tells us that the decision on the future of Heathrow Airport has been delayed because the Government has apparently run foul of his own requirements. The new runway did not have such an assessment so everything must be held up until the assessment has been made.

How will females, members of ethnic minority groups and the disabled be affected? It seems like a new level of sophistication, not just enquiring into the lives and situations of people, but disaggregating them, disregarding the needs of white males or at least downgrading their needs, - all this in the name of social engineering.

It is not enough to ask how much inconvenience, noise or smell people will suffer, as part of the "cost-benefit analysis" undertaken, the results must be weighted according to sex, ethnicity, disability, age. So the project could devastate thousands of white males, who don't count, so long as those suffering do not include too many women, etc. If there are plenty of jobs for women or certain immigrants, this is fine, even if there are only few for unemployed white males.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that those who promoted the idea of a new runway were concerned with British prestige and commercial advantage. It seems after all that we have to please the politically correct in order to undertake any such major projects.

You have to fear for the future of this country, but never mind so long as we are all perceived to be equal......