I recently shared the following photo and caption on my social media feed: “BREAKING: Christian cop who was suspended and out under investigation for asking questions about Islam during a DEI training, just won a settlement with the North Yorkshire Police Dept in the UK”.

Christian PCSO Luke Salmons asked a question in a “safe space” DEI session. He was sacked for his beliefs. The force later admitted he should never have been dismissed. Diversity? Yes. Inclusion? Yes. Equality? Yes. Equity — different rules to force outcomes — is at the heart of the problems that I want to talk about.

In response to a sympathetic ex-police friend comment, I wrote: “DEI affects far more than the police, although sadly is at the heart of two-tier policing and tragic cases like with Henry Nowak [(see here for my recent thoughts)]. When I was active in the community a few years back I encountered it big-time and looking back even helped to promote it. According to AI “DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It represents a set of organizational strategies and policies designed to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and full participation for all people, particularly those from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups”, all of which sounds laudable – sadly as we know those at the forefront of pushing DEI, all too-often, have an anti-Christian agenda and those of us who seek truth based on what God says have to choose going along with what DEI pushers push or speaking out and suffering the consequences. Thank God for people like Luke Salmons. While I no longer care upsetting the growing band of DEIers, including among Christian “leaders”, I am old and seen past it and the best I can do is pray for and encourage the next generation who have a choice to make”.

Back in October 2024, Northallerton, as part of North Yorkshire Police, mandatory DEI training, trainers walked the room chanting “Islam is a religion of peace.” One PCSO, Luke Salmons, 46, Christian, thought that was indoctrination, not education. The session was billed as a “safe space” with “no bad questions.” A Muslim sergeant invited questions on difficult topics. Salmons asked about Gaza, Hamas, and the word “jihad.” The exchange was respectful. Two days later Salmons is suspended. He was told: “I don’t like your beliefs.” In July 2025, he was dismissed for gross misconduct and told that his beliefs were not aligned with force policy and he was barred from policing for life. This month, after appeal and legal fight, North Yorkshire Police settled out of court. No apology was given and the offer a job was not given, although the Chief Constable admitted he should never have been dismissed.

This is not an isolated case. In my Henry Nowak blog, I didn’t use the term DEI. Looking back, the police response reflects the DEI culture operating in the force — where risk to reputation and ‘perception’ outranked risk to people. Then there was Kristie Higgs, who was sacked and later won her case at the Court of Appeal. Others like Rev Dr Bernard Randall and Sarah Phillimore faced sanctions for beliefs. I mention these because all are in the public domain and some would say these are just the high-profile ones – many others have suffered, including fearing to speak as they find.

Before continuing, it is worth considering what is DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), mindful of when I was organising community events and running community projects, helping to empower a wide array of disparate communities and because of my interest and expertise was invited onto committees seeking to enact DEI ideas, including those led by the police. Diversity is about representation. In the Police case, they should look like the public they are meant to serve. Inclusion is about “no bullying”, and saying no to “you don’t belong here” (although I recognised, even then, that it could be a contentious point as it was not always desirable, e.g. in the case of Christian organisations wanting to hire those promoting its particular ethos). Equality, as it was then, has since been replaced by Equity. Equity is not equality. Equality means same rules, same plumbline (Amos 7:8 – see my next blog). Equity means different rules to force equal outcomes. That last E is the switch. Equality says: “Ask hard questions, judge behaviour.” Equity says: “Some questions are unacceptable and to balance history, we silence you.”

Back in the day, I considered DEI (with the definition then understood) to be important and needed. Real bias existed (and still does and often in sadly different but still nefarious ways). Post-9/11, Muslims were targeted, mixed-race families, so were Christians in secular firms; gay people were discriminated against – they all copped abuse. DEI training then was meant to stop stereotyping and was designed keep people safe, notably in the big institutions.

So why does DEI fail and why does it create what it claims to cure? As I see it, and as the Salmons case shows, it polices belief, not behaviour. Salmons didn’t harass anyone. He asked a question. It replaces one partiality with another. Firing a Christian for “wrong” views while chanting about Islam isn’t neutrality. It’s run by ideologues, not peacemakers. The trainers weren’t people following in the steps of the Hebrew prophets, like Amos. Rather they were enforcers, calling for conformity to their own Marxist, or whatever, perverted ideology, and when resisting this has consequences.

A gay friend tells me: “DEI keeps mixed-race marriages and Christians safer.” I agree – when it means Exodus 22:21 “don’t wrong a sojourner.” I disagree when it means John 9:22 “anyone confessing Christ put out of the synagogue.” An ex-copper mate says: “DEI creates the problem it alleges to be dealing with.” Salmons proves it. If cops fear asking about jihad in a “safe space,” what questions aren’t getting asked on the street? Ezekiel 33:6 – the watchman silenced. The fix isn’t complicated. Drop Equity. Return to Equality. One plumbline for all. Protect people, Romans 13:4, not ideologies. Judge actions, not thoughts. Rather than discouraging questions, we should welcome them, Romans 14:1, especially hard ones. Diversity is God’s idea. DEI-as-equity is man’s. Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.” Not quotas. Not fear. Not tribunals. Until we admit that and let the bad guys run the show, we’ll keep sacking the Salmonses, and things like the rape gang scandal keep getting covered up, while operating under the illusion that the “gospel” of DEI is for the common good.

Revelation 7:9 contains a vision that encompasses a full cross section of humanity: “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands”. Of course, I cannot expect DEI trainers to share that hope but I would rather they refrain from imposing their false ideology, while rightly maintaining that Diversity, Equality and Inclusion can still be a positive force for good in our society.