(Daily Mail on Sunday 19 September 2021)

No More Tick Boxes informs readers that non-white NHS staff are routinely discriminated against because of Britain’s ‘history as an Imperial power’.

It advises NHS mentors to check their behaviour so that they are not guilty of ‘micro-aggressions’.

And NHS East of England recommends managers read another guide that tells white public sector administrators they only got their jobs ‘because of the colour of your skin’.

NHS chiefs declined to say how much No More Tick Boxes cost, and stood by both guides’ inclusion on a reading list for managers.

‘White fragility is the flip side of a sense of entitlement developed over many years.’

The idea – coined by a white American woman, former education professor Robin DiAngelo – is controversial. Fellow academics argue that it is a racist stereotype that lumps white people together as ‘oppressors’ who suffer the same psychological flaw, as well as being used to shut down debate.

The guide states that black and minority ethnic (BME) NHS staff suffer because of Britain’s colonial past: ‘Whilst the proportion of White people who are overtly racist is a minority, assumptions about inferiority which undermine the employment and well-being of BME staff are widespread and deeply ingrained through our history as an Imperial power.’