UK police spend thousands on LGBTQ-themed merchandise, critics call it ‘woke nonsense’

London: The UK police have spent nearly $80,000 on LGBTQ-themed merchandise like cars, flags, pens, and badges, among other things. The move, which aims to support the community, has received flak from many including a non-partisan group called Taxpayers’ Alliance which has labelled it as “woke nonsense.” According to a report by The Telegraph, 27 police departments in England and Wales have been spending thousands on rainbow-themed merchandise between 2019 to 2022, as per data released under freedom of information laws. Tom Ryan, a researcher at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said, “Police chiefs have been caught red-handed wasting money on woke nonsense.” The biggest spenders Among all the police forces, South Wales Police was the biggest spender, shelling out over $29,000 on rainbow-themed t-shirts, badges, pens, whistles, flags and water bottles. Next in line for big spenders is the Kent Police force which spent around $9,600 for similar items. Meanwhile, other police departments have forked out funds for cars with special rainbow stickers and on items called “rainbow fuzzy bugs.” The National Police Chief’s Council previously said that the customised cars act as “hate-crime cars” to encourage the public to report any hate-crime that they witness. Taxpayers’ Alliance slams spending The Taxpayers’ Alliance, a group that advocates for lower taxes in UK, has claimed that the spending was unnecessary. Noting that while crime is on the rise in the country, the funds should be better used to deploy better troops and bolster public safety. “With crime on the up, it will bring little comfort to Brits knowing that bobbies are kitted out with rainbow merchandise,” said Ryan. “Police forces should put a stop to this pointless spending and focus funds on the frontline,” he added. ‘Woke-ism’ on the rise According to a report by Fox News, many public institutions in UK have lately come under fire for embracing “woke culture.” Last year, London’s transport agency published guidelines that banned the usage of words like “bicycle” and “accidents” in the hope of welcoming more welcoming and inclusive language. The director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Centre of Freedom told Fox News, “It is just completely ridiculous the rise of wokism in the U.K. It’s a nefarious destructive ideology that is advanced by the far left but adopted by a large number of British institutions. And it has no place in British society. It is hugely divisive and fundamentally un-British.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.