As part of their ongoing Mermaids smear campaign, the Daily Telegraph have produced yet another misleading headline and article as they attempt to pressure the Prime Minister and police into opening an investigation.

Trans charity trained police set to investigate it Officers had ‘transgender awareness’ lessons from Mermaids group at centre of safeguarding concerns The Daily Telegraph14 Oct 2022By Hayley Dixon Special correspondent THE police force facing calls to investigate Mermaids has received training from the trans charity. Police in West Yorkshire, where the charity is based, last night refused to comment on whether they would look into safeguarding concerns over Mermaids following calls from MPS. It comes after an investigation by this newspaper found that Mermaids has been sending out free breast-binding devices to children against their parents’ wishes and telling teenagers that puberty-blocking drugs are safe and “totally reversible”. It can now be revealed that West Yorkshire Police, which would lead any investigation into Mermaids, has received training from the group on “trans awareness and support”. In recent years, the force has launched a number of hate crime investigations after complaints by Mermaids staff about social media comments. Last night the force refused to comment on questions from this newspaper about whether it is still receiving training from the charity or if it was examining any safeguarding concerns. Harry Miller, a former police officer and founder of Fair Cop, a campaign group, last night said that the connection raised issues of impartiality. The Mermaids website says that it “regularly trains professionals seeking to learn, listen and improve, in the NHS, schools, social services, CAMHS, police and uniformed services”. It has previously issued statements saying that it provides “trans awareness training”. In 2019, Mermaids confirmed it had provided training sessions for Merseyside and West Yorkshire police as well as representatives from other forces. In images of one of the sessions, shared on social media, the slides included a scale from 1 to 10 with a Barbie on one side and a GI Joe on the other and asked: “Where on the spectrum might your gender identity be?” Mermaids later claimed that the Barbie to GI Joe scale was tongue in cheek. In the wake of The Daily Telegraph investigation, the Charity Commission initiated a “regulatory compliance case” over concerns on Mermaids “approach to safeguarding young people”. Calls for an investigation were raised during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday by Miriam Cates, a Tory MP, who said it “is high time for a police investigation into the activity of Mermaids and its staff ”. Liz Truss, the Prime Minister, replied that “of course those matters should be raised and properly looked at”. Mermaids, which is based in Yeadon, near Leeds, said it would “continue to provide crucial support for trans and gender-diverse young people and their families, and remain accountable through the Charity Commission”.
Trans charity trained police set to investigate it – Officers had ‘transgender awareness’ lessons from Mermaids group at centre of safeguarding concerns – The Daily Telegraph14 Oct 2022 By Hayley Dixon Special correspondent

In their Friday edition, the Daily Telegraph had an article by their special trans correspondent, Hayley Dixon, with the headline “Trans charity trained police set to investigate it” which is misleading on a number of fronts.

Even the opening paragraph betrays the misinformation in the headline, saying “The police force facing calls to investigate Mermaids has received training from the trans charity.”

“Facing calls to investigate” is certainly not the same as “set to investigate.”

Hayley Dixon has written 9 articles about Mermaids for the Daily Telegraph in just over two weeks

Unless Dixon and the Telegraph have been informed privately by the police that a police investigation into Mermaids is forthcoming, there is no investigation.

That’s the main problem with their headline.

What happened was Miriam Cates, a Tory MP with known GC views stood up in the House of Commons, possibly abusing her role as an elected official, to implore the Prime Minister (at that time), Liz Truss, to call on the police to investigate Mermaids.

It would be more than a little disturbing, to say the least, if the police have informed a publication and journalist who are well known to be hostile to trans issues of an impending investigation into a trans organisation.

Next up, we have the statement that Mermaids trained the police.

I can’t believe that I have to say this but, just to ensure there is no doubt, Mermaids do not train the police.

In 2019, “Mermaids confirmed it had provided training sessions for Merseyside and West Yorkshire police as well as representatives from other forces,” according to this report.

Those ‘sessions’ involved simple ‘trans awareness training’.

No doubt the Telegraph and it’s eager supporters would prefer that the police were as ignorant about trans matters as they are.

Dixon did not have any articles in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday but the paper’s attack on Mermaids continued.

Scottish NHS backs trans charity Mermaids Hospitals and the police continue to refer children to group despite fears over safeguarding The Daily Telegraph15 Oct 2022By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT VULNERABLE children are being referred to Mermaids by the Scottish NHS and police despite the charity being investigated over safeguarding issues, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. Children’s mental health services, gender identity clinics and Police Scotland’s suicide prevention guidelines offer endorsements of the charity and provide contact information. Mermaids is not a registered charity in Scotland, meaning the country’s charity regulator has no remit over it. The group is being investigated by the Charity Commission in England and Wales after a report in this newspaper showed it had sent breast binders to children behind their parents’ backs and suggested puberty-blocking drugs. The Scottish Government has previously refused to cut Mermaids from official schools guidance, which also states that breast binders can have a “positive impact” on a child’s mental health. Police Scotland has said their use is a “potential child protection matter”, but the force lists Mermaids as a “mental health and suicide prevention organisation” and provides contact details, in official guidance. The charity is also listed as a helpful organisation in literature distributed by NHS National Services Scotland for parents of children questioning their gender identity. Despite concerns about the organisation relating to an online forum for young people aged 12 to 15, and some NHS staff in England being warned not to promote Mermaids, NHS Lothian reiterated its support for the charity. “Mermaids offers free and confidential phone and web-chat services which have been designed specifically to support trans, gender-diverse and nonbinary students aged 18 to 25,” a spokesman said. “To date, we haven’t received any complaints within NHS Lothian in respect to the charity.” Susan Smith, of the For Women Scotland campaign group, said public bodies “should not have to wait for major scandals before examining the appropriateness of referring children to a group which promotes breast binding”. The National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland, which was investigated earlier this year for uploading a file with links to graphic descriptions of child castration on its NHS website, also endorses Mermaids as being able to offer “help and support”. Mermaids came under scrutiny after it emerged that staff agreed to send a breast binder discreetly to a girl they believed was 14 after being told her mother would not let her use one. A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We will continue to engage with the Charity Commission and review any developments accordingly.” A spokesman for NHS National Services Scotland said: “The National Gender Identity Clinical Network supports improvements to trans healthcare in Scotland which includes a duty of care to support young gender-questioning people.” They added that young people and their families must “have access to a range of information”.
Scottish NHS backs trans charity Mermaids – Hospitals and the police continue to refer children to group despite fears over safeguarding – The Daily Telegraph15 Oct 2022By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPONDENT

This is not Sanderson’s first foray into anti-trans journalism.

He has also recently written for the Telegraph pieces with headlines such as “Feminist group tells church: ‘You’ve let women down’ where he puts forward the case of ‘Sole Sisters’, “a small grassroots organisation which believes sex is immutable”.

The Telegraph also had another small piece by an unnamed ‘Daily Telegraph reporter’ and there has been some suggestion that these pieces are being penned by certain GC ringleaders and published whenever they arrive in the Telegraph’s inbox:

In this case, it is the wizard author inserting herself into a narrative, once again, then crying about things that weren’t actually said.

Rowling makes jab at ‘bearded men defining a woman’ The Daily Telegraph15 Oct 2022By Daily Telegraph Reporter JK ROWLING has attacked “bearded men defining what a woman is” in a social media row with singer Billy Bragg. Bragg tweeted a video of Graham Norton being interviewed at Cheltenham Literature Festival this week, in which he said cancel culture was people correctly being held accountable for their words or actions. Norton declined to comment on the backlash Ms Rowling received after sharing her views on transgenderism, adding that anyone interested in the subject should consult those affected. Bragg wrote: “Norton really good here on John Cleese, telling him that ‘cancel culture’ is just accountability, and JK Rowling, suggesting that the media talk directly to trans teens and their parents rather than merely amplifying the takes of a celebrity.” Ms Rowling then responded: “Very much enjoying the recent spate of bearded men stepping confidently on to their soapboxes to define what a woman is and throw their support behind rape and death threats to those who dare disagree.”
Rowling makes jab at ‘bearded men defining a woman’ The Daily Telegraph15 Oct 2022 By Daily Telegraph Reporter

It’s worth noting that the Telegraph have only just been found guilty by IPSO of breaching accuracy guidelines after they published a headline stating that Allison Bailey had won her case against Stonewall.

She did not.

As IPSO write in their ruling, “The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.”

You can make a complaint about the headline at the start of this article here.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR