A government backed report by Sir John Parker says that all-white boardrooms should end by 2021 in FTSE 100 companies, and by 2024 in FTSE 250 companies. The aim is to get them more representative of their workforces, customers and suppliers.
Why stop at ethnicity? There are all sorts of groups in society and the same excuse could be used to support them - disabled, LGBT, tall, short, fat, thin. About 50% of the population is women, so should all boards be 50:50 men and women? And why not have children on the boards of toy manufacturers?
The whole thing is nonsense and hopefully the shareholders of these private companies will tell the government where to go.
If things need smashing up in boardrooms one is the glass ceiling so that women with the ability and the desire to move up can do so. The other is the old boy's network, which sees members holding multiple directorships, setting their salaries and only promoting their own.