The Welsh government has been criticized for a “bonkers misuse of public money” after it drew up a style guide that instructed civil servants to avoid using certain “banned words” in order to communicate without causing offense.
The compilation of politically correct words was included in a revised guidance document released last week. The official A-Z guide told the country’s roughly 32,400 public servants to avoid using such terms as “able-bodied,” “BAME” (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) and even “Brexit.”
Since Brexit “has happened” already, it suggests they use “transition period” when referring to the “time between February 1 and December 31, 2020.” Similarly, officials are told “never” to refer to the UK government as Her Majesty’s government.
It also prohibits the use of “disabled person” since the guide defines ‘disability’ as the “things which society, the environment, or policy do to a person with an impairment which disadvantages them.” It advises staff to look at “context,” holding up societal “barriers” that “disable” people with “impairments” as an example.
The guide also warns against using “vulnerable” when referring to disabilities since “anyone can become vulnerable for different reasons at different times in their lives.” Therefore, it notes, describing disabled people as vulnerable is “often wrong and does nothing to promote equality.”
Further, the document frowns on the term “able-bodied,” suggesting that staff “use non-disabled” instead. Usage of the common acronym BAME is also blocked, with the full form preferred in the first instance and “ethnic minority” for subsequent references.
“It is a massive A-Z, but the only one missing is ‘W for woke.’ It is just getting so nit-picking,” an unnamed civil servant told The Times. Another official likened the guide to a “Big Brother of words and phrases” that has staffers “looking over your shoulder every time you send an email.”
Describing it as a “bonkers misuse of public money,” the Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, told the paper that the Labour government had “well and truly lost the plot” and seemed “intent on imposing a woke ideology” on the country.
The Welsh government has not provided comment on the issue as yet.