ABSTRACT
In 2002, the Labour government passed The Sex Discrimination Act, which made the process of all women shortlists—fielding only women candidates in elections—exempt from the legislation banning sexual discrimination. This is a particularly good example of the irrationality of basic assumption thinking. It was the pioneering work of Bion, prompted by the need to rehabilitate victims of shell-shock in the First World War, which laid the foundations for our understanding of group behaviour. The tribal mentality is all about creating a comfortable illusion of conformity where conflict does not exist. The true opposite of tolerance is to be found in the fanatic, the fundamentalist, and the tyrant, for whom anything that conflicts with their beliefs and practices is anathema. The tribal mentality replaces genuine tolerance with a kind of inverted, fundamentalist orthodoxy. Moral and religious scruples are only permitted if they are ones that have the stamp of approval of officialdom.
