The Board of Commissioners at the EHRC is the highest-level decision-making body in the organization. A list of the commissioners is here. The chair and commissioners are appointed by the Minister for Women and Equalities. Nine of the 12 commissioners are female. Both the chief executive and the deputy chief executive are women. Gender equality is a fine thing, when women are in charge of making appointments.

Last week there was the first meeting of the Women and Equalities Committee since Philip Davies was appointed to it, unopposed. I won’t inflict on you video footage of Sam Smethers, the head of the Fawcett Society, wittering on. Trust me, you’d lose the will to live. No, instead I’ll direct you to a short piece (video, 2:15) from Sargon of Akkad, in which Davies challenges David Isaac, the chair of the EHRC, and Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive, about the various pay gaps (not just gender) at the EHRC. The piece was published yesterday and has already attracted 100,000+ views. Enjoy.

Last November we sent Amber Rudd MP, Home Secretary, an FOI request in relation to MGM. A month later, after receiving her department’s response, we posted a blog piece with the snappy title, “A Home Office contender for a ‘Most stupid response to a FOI request’ award (in relation to the legality of MGM)”.

We promptly send Amber Rudd a new FOI request, here. It consisted of this simple question:

Why are the police not bringing prosecutions against those who carry out non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors, the infliction of bodily harm on minors without the legal capacity to give permission to that bodily harm, in breach of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861?

We received an email acknowledgement from the Home Office, which included this:

We will aim to send you a full response by 05/01/2017 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

Two weeks have passed since the deadline. We’ve emailed the Home Office to point out the delay, but we’ve heard nothing back. We’ll keep posting weekly updates about the delay, until we get a response.

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The first of two screenings of The Red Pill took place last night in Norwich, and it was very well received. Barry Wright, a local man, has invested over £10,000 in funding the screenings and the attendance of a number of people for the Q&A panel including Cassie Jaye, Paul Elam, Erin Pizzey, and Dr RandomerCam. The crowdfunder to help offset his investment stands at £710, please make a donation if you can – here. Thanks.

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Our thanks to E for this (video, 0:55).

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Our thanks to David W for this. The start of the piece:

A former Scotland international footballer and his ex-teammate have been ruled to be rapists and ordered to pay £100,000 damages despite never facing a criminal trial. [my emphasis]

Denise Clair, who was left “devastated” by a Crown decision not to prosecute, sued striker David Goodwillie.

She also sued Goodwillie’s then Dundee United colleague David Robertson.

She claimed they raped her at a flat in Armadale, in West Lothian, after a night out in Bathgate in January 2011.

It was the first civil rape case of its kind in Scotland.

Ms Clair, who previously waived her right to anonymity, said she could not remember what happened after being in a Bathgate bar and woke up in a strange flat the following morning.

The 30-year-old originally sought £500,000 in compensation, [my emphasis] but damages were later agreed at £100,000 in the civil action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

The mother-of-one maintained she was incapable of giving free agreement to sex because of her alcohol consumption, but Goodwillie, 27, who now plays with Plymouth Argyle, and Robertson claimed that intercourse had been consensual.

A judge said: “Having carefully examined and scrutinised the whole evidence in the case, I find the evidence of the pursuer (the woman) to be cogent, persuasive and compelling.”

Lord Armstrong said: “In the result, therefore, I find that in the early hours of Sunday 2 January 2011, at the flat in Greig Crescent, Armadale, both defenders (the footballers) took advantage of the pursuer when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and, because her cognitive functioning and decision-making processes were so impaired, was incapable of giving meaningful consent; and that they each raped her.”

The parallels with the Ched Evans case are too obvious to need explaining.

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A thought-provoking piece from William Collins.

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Our thanks to Belinda for this.

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A good decision in Oz. Our thanks to Ian.

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Another excellent piece from Belinda Brown for TCW.

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Interesting. But doubtless the committee’s final report will say workplaces ‘should’ do more for working fathers. Reflections:

1. This is transparent virtue signalling, appearing to show concern for fathers, whilst not diverting any state resources to them. A double win for the state, and for this committee, to which Philip Davies has just been appointed. Maybe his appointment was the spur for this move, which is nothing more nor less than propaganda.

2. It utterly ignores the fact that organizations are already reeling under the ‘support’ provided to working mothers. In the state sector, taxpayers – men, mainly – pay for the consequent inefficiency and ineffectiveness, while service users suffer  – the NHS is but the most obvious example at the moment – while in the private sector one consequence of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness is loss of competitiveness, a concept alien to most politicians, including the dire Maria Miller, the Conservative MP who chairs the Women & Equalities Select Committee.

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