Police spent over 600 million pounds on diversity schemes, report claims
A Policy Exchange report claims that police forces spent over 600 million pounds on diversity schemes, which could have funded 2,000 additional frontline officers.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A new report from the think tank Policy Exchange has claimed that police forces in England and Wales spent more than 600 million pounds on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) schemes over the past six years. The report argues that this sum could have funded an additional 2,000 frontline police officers each year. The findings have reignited debate over the role of DEI in policing, with critics saying the money has been wasted on training and internal posts that undermine public trust, while supporters argue the spending is a small fraction of the overall police budget and necessary to build community confidence.
The report, described as a right-wing think tank by GB News, also criticised what it called the two-tier effects of such policies, citing cases including the Nottingham attack, the Southport incident and the police response to the murder of Henry Nowak. Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley told GB News that DEI did not exist when he served and that policing had made progress on race after the Macpherson report, but had now gone too far. He said the Race Action Plan handed down by the National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing encourages discrimination and is therefore unlawful. He also pointed to Staffordshire Police admitting they put trans women into women's cells, flying in the face of a Supreme Court ruling.
However, GB News senior political commentator Nigel Nelson pushed back, noting that the 600 million figure represents six tenths of one percent of the entire police budget. He argued that neighbourhood policing works best when officers reflect the community and that DEI is an important tool. Former Reform UK communications chief Gawain Towler described DEI as weaponised good manners, saying the balance has gone the wrong way and that frontline officers are frightened to act without fear or favour. The discussion highlighted a divide over whether DEI training has made officers less willing to intervene, with Bleksley citing a former officer who said he would not use a taser on a black suspect for fear of being called racist.
The report and the subsequent debate underscore a growing tension between those who see diversity spending as essential for modern policing and those who view it as a costly distraction from frontline duties. No official response from police bodies was included in the broadcast.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | GB News |
|---|---|
| Police forces spent over £600 million on diversity schemes over six years, which could have funded 2,000 additional frontline officers each year. | |
| Staffordshire Police admitted putting trans women into women's cells, ignoring a Supreme Court ruling. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
GB News framed the report as evidence of a 'two-tier justice row' and focused heavily on criticism of DEI from former detective Peter Bleksley and panelist Gawain Towler. The channel gave significant airtime to claims that DEI has made officers afraid to act and that police chiefs ignore the law. The tone was sceptical of diversity spending, though Nigel Nelson offered a counterpoint defending DEI as a small part of the budget.
- “An extraordinary new report by the think tank Policy Exchange has found that police forces have forked out more than 600 million pounds of our money on diversity schemes over the past six years in what has been dubbed the latest two-tier justice row.”
- “The police have adopted this DEI ideology, which permeates and pollutes through every aspect of policing, from the National Police Chief's Council and the College of Police, who have handed down their Race Action Plan, which encourages discrimination.”
- “It sounds like a huge figure. When you break it down, it represents six tenths of one percent of the entire police budget. It's tiny.”
Broadcast Timeline
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