Trump’s anti-DEI push splits opinion in the UK

UK businesses are divided on whether follow their American counterparts in scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes in light of the rollback of DEI in the US under President Donald Trump. New polling shows a small majority is against any dilution of UK DEI commitments but nonetheless almost a quarter disagreed and are in favour. We’ll speak to a D&I specialist about D&I training and the risks with cutting back DEI training programmes in the UK.

This is a survey by Apella Advisors and Find Out Now which has been reported by Business Matters and Personnel Today. It shows the public is divided. 53% of respondents said it would be “bad” if British companies copied US rivals by curtailing DEI efforts, but 22% disagreed and thought the UK should align with the US on this issue. 

The survey shows a clear generational and gender divide on DEI policies. Younger and working-age adults are more likely to be in favour of DEI, while older individuals and men are more sceptical. Critics of DEI argue it’s an approach that can undermine merit-based hiring and progression, while supporters believe they are essential for attracting and retaining diverse talent. Apella’s head of data and insights, Mike Granleese, warns that businesses risk harming their reputations if they abandon stated DEI commitments. He said the concern isn’t just about missing out on talent, it’s about authenticity. Companies that publicly champion diversity but then quietly scale back their efforts may face backlash from employees, customers, and investors who expect them to uphold their values.

During his second term, President Trump has pledged to eliminate DEI policies in federal government operations and has already curtailed DEI requirements in public sector hiring and contracts. In response, a number of major US companies have scaled back their diversity commitments. Many have reduced the visibility of their DEI strategies, withdrawn years of diversity data, or discontinued specific diversity targets. Some have restructured or eliminated DEI-focused roles, while others have scaled back training programs and diversity-related initiatives. These shifts mark a significant change in corporate approaches to DEI, raising questions about whether UK businesses will follow suit. 

These developments have significant implications for DEI training programmes which very often form a significant part of a company’s overall DEI programme so let’s consider that. Trish Embley is Head of Client Training and earlier she joined me by video-link to discuss it. So, how might a UK business be influenced by Trump's stance of DEI?

Trish Embley: “Well, I suppose if you are a subsidiary of a US company that is a contractor for the federal government, you might find edicts being passed down saying, right, complete policy change, we’re pulling all our DEI training and initiatives, but although that might be the message from the US, I think what HR would have to do in that situation is push back and say, well, okay, that might be the business organisational strategy now, however, as we are located in the jurisdiction of the UK, we have to comply with UK laws and UK laws do require certain steps to be taken to prevent discrimination and harassment, and therefore that's why the training is required.”

Joe Glavina: “If UK businesses feel pressure to scale back their DEI initiatives, could that expose them to the risk of legal claims?”  

Trish Embley: “Oh, definitely. The UK - under the Equality Act - defence to any discrimination claim is, if discrimination occurred, has the employer taken all reasonable steps to prevent it and, of course, since the end of last year we have this new statutory duty in respect of sexual harassment to, again, take reasonable steps to prevent specifically sexual harassment. So on both of those counts it would be very unwise not to train your employees and your managers on discrimination more broadly and specifically the prevention of sexual harassment.”

Joe Glavina: “What about communicating these legal risks, both to UK employees and to parent companies in the US? I guess there’s a role there for HR.”

Trish Embley: “Yes, I mean, I think that's part of HR’s role and there are many examples where I think business owners in the US are quite surprised by some of our laws and this is, I guess, just another one to add to the list. I remember doing some training for some very senior executives from the US and they found it very hard to get their head around the concept of the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations. It’s based on European law, very much there to protect workers and the employees whereas, I guess, coming from the US there's more freedom to do business and buy and acquire things, all very much subject to a sale and purchase agreement. So this is just another example of where, I think, in order to manage risk, which is obviously very important to a business, awareness has to be raised amongst senior leaders, perhaps in the US, about these key differences and the impact legally, reputationally, in respect of recruitment and retention it will have in this country.”

Joe Glavina: “Given some US companies are already rolling back their DEI programmes, is there any sign of that spilling over into the UK that you’ve noticed?”

Trish Embley: “No, I don't think there's any sign of that but what I have noticed in the last year or so, though, is an investment in a specific sort of training which is really making it clear that our laws here on positive action are very, very different to US affirmative action programmes. Now, obviously these are the ones that are more controversial in the US, whereas positive action in the UK is not as broad as it is in the US but I think sometimes organisations have got a little bit mixed up as to what positive action is, what lawful positive action is, and started running initiatives akin to those in the US that actually would be unlawful here as positive discrimination. So to answer your question, Joe, have I seen any rowing back on DEI training? No, but I think the training has become more focused on, perhaps, understanding the limitations of things like positive action, making sure we don't swing too much in favour of underrepresented groups and then end up discriminating against other majority groups and I think it's that focus that, perhaps, we might look at here in the UK.”
Those two articles I mentioned which cover this story in more detail are: ‘Trump’s anti-DEI push splits opinion among Britons’ and ‘Fifth of Britons agree with scaling back on DEI.’ We’ve included links to both in the transcript of this programme.

- Link to Business Matters article: ‘Trump’s anti-DEI push splits opinion among Britons’

- Link to Personnel Today article ‘Fifth of Britons agree with scaling back on DEI’