MR S THOMAS v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and 1 other — 2021

This was a reserved preliminary hearing on whether the claimant's belief in English nationalism, and the anti-Islamic views found to be part of that belief, could amount to a protected philosophical belief under section 10 of the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal noted that it was not deciding the First Respondent's reasons for terminating the engagement and was not determining the other complaints mentioned in the claim forms.

The tribunal accepted that English nationalism could in principle constitute a philosophical belief and found that the claimant genuinely held that belief. It also found, on the evidence of the claimant's witness statement, cross-examination, tweets, Facebook posts and earlier tribunal findings, that he held anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic views at the material time of May to July 2018, and that those views formed part of his belief in English nationalism.

Applying the Grainger criteria, the tribunal held that the first four criteria were met. It accepted that the belief was genuinely held, was a belief rather than a mere opinion, concerned a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour, and attained the required level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance.

The claim failed on the fifth Grainger criterion. The tribunal held that the claimant's disdainful, prejudiced and ill-informed focus on Islam was not worthy of respect in a democratic society, was incompatible with human dignity, and conflicted with the fundamental rights of others. It therefore concluded that the claimant's belief in English nationalism, as evidenced and manifested in this case, was not capable of being a protected characteristic, and the discrimination complaint was dismissed.