Imagine having a conversation at work over a cup of tea. Probably you don’t have to imagine very hard — it happens most days with most people in most workplaces. The conversation ends amicably, and you get back to your duties.
Imagine then being informed by your workplace that you are being investigated by the police for that conversation. Imagine wondering whether that means you will be arrested in front of your children. Imagine the doorbell ringing at home and wondering if it is the police.
This is exactly what happened to Christian artist Victoria Culf. The conversation over a cup of tea took place with a council employee who was known to Victoria. This employee disclosed that her child was “socially transitioning” and that she was trying to get puberty blockers from the now discredited Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic. Victoria politely and sensitively said that she believed the discredited Tavistock clinic should be shut down and that since the human brain doesn’t stop developing till around the age of 24, “children are too young to properly assess risk”.
Victoria explained that: “I wouldn’t be being true to myself if I agreed with you.” There was some more discussion, and the conversation ended calmly and amicably, or so she thought.
Victoria later received a call from the council banning her from entering her own art exhibition because of an allegation of “harassment” and informing her that the police were now investigating her for a “hate crime” and that she needed to prepare a statement.
With the help of the Christian Legal Centre, Victoria initiated legal proceedings against the Council for breach of contract, discrimination, harassment, misfeasance in public office, negligence, intimidation, defamation conspiracy and malicious falsehood.
Disclosure of documents related to the case by both the police and the Council have now revealed that Victoria was actually not under investigation by the police when the Council claimed she was. Police records now confirm that while the conversation was reported to the police, the police for once applied common sense and did not log it as a crime. They actually described Victoria’s comments as protected free speech! Good for them. That is how it should be.
Nevertheless, the council claimed that the police were investigating the incident, and this led to her being excluded from her own art exhibition. Her artwork was later found to have been damaged at the exhibition.
Disclosure also revealed that the disgruntled council employee who reported Victoria to the police had taken advice from the LGBTQI+ charity “Ask for Clive”. Ask for Clive partners with Stonewall and actively encourages hate crime reports to the police. This organisation promotes a culture of people seeking victim status and reporting their grievances to the police. Sadly, in this they appear to be succeeding.
My advice is to make the most of office banter while you still can
What will further encourage us to become a nation of snitchers is the so-called “banter ban” in the Employment Rights Bill which the government is currently taking through parliament. This will make employers responsible for any “harassment” of their employees, including by third parties. This means, if someone is offended by what you say in the office, they can report you to your employer who would be required to take action. You might not even be employed by the same employer, but their employer would still have liability. What does this mean for conversations over cups of tea in the office? They are just too dangerous to contemplate! Maybe employers will ban them rather than risk liability for what you might say?
My advice is to make the most of office banter while you still can. Part of the fun of going into the office is so that you can enjoy the banter. But that brings to mind another solution. Rather than risk dangerous conversations in the office, perhaps employers will require us all to work from home? There’s no scope for banter in online meetings. Or perhaps there is?
Perhaps we just need to ban employment? If we all worked for ourselves then what could possibly go wrong?
