LGA pulls ‘ridiculous’ woke language guide

An “inclusive language” guide sent to councils across England and Wales has been withdrawn amid a storm of protest.

A document drawn up by the Local Government Association (LGA) encouraged councils to ditch ‘inappropriate’ words and phrases like “ladies and gentlemen” for more “positive language”.

In the name of “equality” and “diversity”, the LGA’s Inclusive Language Guide also urged its members to replace the words father and mother with “birthing parent”.

‘Birthing parent’

The guide advised local authorities to remember that “trans and non-binary people also experience pregnancy and give birth”.

Councils were told: “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen” should be avoided in favour of “Good afternoon, everyone”.

Within days the 18-page document was pulled by the LGA and the website now states: “We’re reviewing our Inclusive Language Guide following feedback from our members.”

‘Patronising’

Basildon Council rejected the guidance, with one councillor describing it as “ridiculous”.

The town’s Mayor said: “It’s absurd to suggest the words mother and father can be offensive.” He added: “I think we need to stand up for traditional family values”.

And Joss Bigmore, of Guildford Borough called it “a load of patronising nonsense”.

One senior council member described the guidance to The Sun as woke “hogwash”.

NHS

Last week, Transport for London faced criticism over its new editorial style guide which tells staff to use “gender-neutral language where possible”, such as “’they’ rather than ‘he/she’”.

And in August, the Mail on Sunday (MoS) revealed that over 40 NHS Trusts in England now refer to maternity patients using ‘gender neutral’ language.

Liverpool Women’s Hospital told the MoS that since 2019 it had moved to using “more fully inclusive language of pregnant people”.

And Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals in Surrey said it “currently uses the phrase ‘women and birthing people’”.