WOKE STUNT ROW OVER MET TERROR CHIEF’S ‘HOT FLUSH VEST’
Thought policing couldn’t get more farcical? Now male officer dons jacket to experience menopause
BRITAIN’S anti-terror chief was accused of going woke last night after wearing a menopause jacket at work.
Matt Jukes donned the garment, which has heat pads to simulate hot flushes, in a meeting to mark Menopause Awareness Month. he said it was uncomfortable and distracting but gave him a ‘heightened awareness’ of the experiences of menopausal women. senior retired officers however condemned the decision by scotland Yard’s new ‘HeForShe Gender Equality Lead’.
‘Growing public concern about the police’s ability to deal effectively with crime and public disorder will be further undermined by this woke stunt,’ said Phil Flower, a former chief superintendent in the Met. ‘Perhaps Matt
Jukes could be encouraged to put on a blue uniform next time and walk on the streets at night to understand what it is like to be a real policeman.’
Another retired Yard chief superintendent, Dai Davies, said: ‘Mr Jukes should concentrate on arresting burglars and people who attack women to counter the appalling level of arrests and charges in the Met, let alone convictions.
‘He should leave women to be women, and encourage male and female officers to go out and do what they are paid to do: arrest criminals and protect the public.’
Mr Jukes said the heat came to him in waves wearing the MenoVest at a meeting of the force’s environment and sustainability board and he had a feeling of ‘oh no, not now’ and ‘an anticipation before really losing my train of thought’.
He vowed to redouble his focus ‘to normalise conversations about the menopause at work’.
Police chiefs across the country have been criticised for engaging in woke gestures while crimes go unsolved. Home Secretary Suella Braverman and members of the public were furious that officers failed to stop Just Stop Oil activists blocking the M25.
The Metropolitan Police is in ‘special measures’
Perhaps he should put on a blue uniform next time and go out on the streets at night to understand what it’s like to be a real policeman EX-SCOTLAND YARD CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT PHIL FLOWER
because of its appalling performance and crime fighting record. A scathing inspection revealed a catalogue of flaws, including not recording thousands of crimes, ignoring almost all victims of anti-social behaviour, letting down vulnerable victims and neglecting a huge backlog of online child abuse referrals.
Mr Jukes’s MenoVest experience was headline news on the Met’s intranet this week.
The article said: ‘AC Matt Jukes, the Met’s new HeForShe Gender Equality Lead, Commander Nick John, and HeForShe coordinator PS Terry Mole tried a MenoVest at an event in partnership with charity Over the Bloody Moon.
‘The MenoVest is like a jacket with heated pads that simulate an authentic menopause “hot flush”. It’s been designed to build empathy for menopause at work.
‘It replicates one of the many symptoms people face when experiencing the menopause and it’s designed to help raise awareness and to start important conversations.’
Officers were urged to watch a video of Mr Jukes talking about his experience trying the MenoVest. A serving senior officer at Scotland Yard who read the article said: ‘At a time of crisis in the Met, this beggars belief. It’s politically correct nonsense.’
But Diane Danzebrink, founder of Menopause Support, said: ‘It’s important for men to be educated about menopause because they will all know somebody who experiences it during their lifetime.
‘It could be a partner, colleague, family member or friend. Young men may have mothers and grandmothers experiencing menopause. One of the reasons that we have campaigned for menopause to be included in the school curriculum is that if we all learn about it at an early age it gives us a greater understanding and hopefully greater compassion for those around us.’
In June, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said ‘systemic concerns’ about the Met’s performance raised by its inspectors had been so grave the force needed to be put in special measures.
The unprecedented step means Scotland Yard faces external monitoring and must come up with an improvement plan.
The damning assessment came after former commissioner Dame Cressida Dick was forced to quit in February following a torrid year of scandals which saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being branded institutionally corrupt by an independent inquiry and two officers jailed for photographing bodies of murder victims.
There was also widespread criticism of her handling of the Operation Midland scandal involving VIP sex abuse liar Carl ‘Nick’ Beech. Following her departure, then counter-terrorism chief, Sir Mark Rowley, took the Scotland Yard hot seat.
The 57-year- old was chosen by the Home Secretary to steady the Met during the worst crisis in its history. Sir Mark pitched a 100-day plan, including boosting confidence in the force’s ability to tackle violence against women and girls and driving down violence.
A Met spokesman said: ‘A number of events were held for World Menopause Month and as part of this assistant commissioner Matt Jukes wore a vest recreating some of the effects of the menopause during a non-operational meeting.’
Mr Jukes said: ‘I make no apologies for spending a fraction of a long working week ensuring women who make a massive contribution to the Met whilst experiencing the menopause feel recognised and supported.’
ANOTHER day, another top police officer makes a complete ass of himself.
This time it’s Britain’s anti-terror chief Matt Jukes, who has apparently been traipsing around Scotland Yard in a special ‘MenoVest’ jacket, which simulates hot flushes in menopausal women.
He did this to feel more in tune with older female colleagues. So what next? Hormone treatment to empathise with trans officers?
Mr Jukes is no doubt a sensitive soul, who wears his Menovest with pride. But good management is about more than virtuesignalling stunts.
It’s about being alert to the concerns of all his officers and accommodating them within the framework of an efficient police force. Efficient being the operative word.
The Metropolitan Police is in special measures because of its appalling record on fighting, preventing and detecting crime. This is where Mr Jukes and his comrades should be focusing all their attention.
Perhaps he could simulate the experience of victims, by arranging for someone to burgle and smash up his house, then getting his colleagues to ignore him when he calls for help.
Sadly, Mr Jukes is just the latest police chief who seems to have forgotten the primary purpose of the service.
Senior officers have been lining up to say they are powerless to crack down on the infantile Just Stop Oil demonstrators who are bringing chaos to the M25 and other arterial roads.
In the case of Hertfordshire police, they have taken to arresting journalists. Their police and crime commissioner David Lloyd accuses the media of being ‘part of the problem’ by reporting the protests. What does he suggest? A news blackout?
Perhaps we should emulate Vladimir Putin’s law against describing his campaign in Ukraine as a war, and make mention of Just Stop Oil illegal.
Blaming the Press for one’s own failings has ever been the last refuge of the clueless. Mr Lloyd proves it still is.
Instead of detaining journalists, the police should be using them as a conduit for explaining to the public exactly what they are doing to bring this criminal disruption to an end.
The truth is that senior police commanders have been captured by the ‘woke’ agenda, where political correctness and identity politics are as important as crime-fighting.
Latest figures show a chilling spike in serious crime and clear-up rates at a historic low. With such misguided leadership, is it any wonder?