Don’t say ‘black market’, use ‘illegal market’ instead: Finance UK bans phrases which could be deemed offensive in inclusivity guide slammed as ‘woke nonsense’ by critics
- UK Finance says it takes issues around language in society ‘extremely seriously’
Bank bosses have banned the words ‘black market’, ‘male’, ‘female’ and other phrases that could be deemed offensive in what critics have slammed as the latest example of ‘woke nonsense’.
UK Finance – a trade body for British bankers and those in financial services – has issued a guide on language which includes banning term ‘black market’ and replacing it with ‘illegal market’, despite it being a commonly used for generations.
The guide says the phrase could be seen as racial bias or discrimination. Similarly, suggest the word ‘slave’ be changed to ‘secondary’ when discussed in the sector.
The document constantly refers to the need for greater diversity and inclusion around language. UK Finance said it takes issues around language in wider society ‘extremely seriously’.
UK Finance is the latest firm to revise its language to be more inclusive. It comes just weeks after MPs slammed London Mayor Sadiq Khan for banning staff from using the phrase ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
UK Finance – a trade body for British bankers and those in financial services – has issued a guide on language which includes banning term ‘black market’ and replacing it with ‘illegal market’, despite it being a commonly used for generations
The firm has made several suggestions to make verbiage more inclusive, including no longer using the words ‘grandfather-father-son’.
The guide says: ‘Grandfather-Father-Son’ is typically used to infer a level of age or hierarchy in infrastructure or backups, where ‘Grandfather’ is an older generation of technology, or backup, whereas ‘Son’ is a newer generation or copy.
Sadiq Khan’s staff are ordered not to use gender-specific phrases: READ MORE
‘Typically infers that ‘Grandfather’ takes longer to restore, whilst ‘Son’ is quicker to restore.’
‘Man-in-the-middle’ – a term used to describe a cyber attack – could be seen as gender bias, the guide says. Instead ‘network interception’ should be used.
While connectors used in IT should not be described as ‘male’ or ‘female’ as it could be seen as gender bias. Instead suggested replacements are ‘male alternative’ or ‘female alternative’.
The guide has banned ‘black hat’, a term used in the industry and cyber-security to mean an unauthorised user, with ‘unethical’ suggested instead.
‘Sanity check’ is also prohibited, as it may ‘infer a level of disability’.
‘Functional test’ should be used instead.
The guide also suggests the phrase ‘dummy’ should be replaced by ‘beginner’.
A spokesperson for UK Finance said: ‘Two years ago we issued a report in conjunction with EY and Microsoft that looked at the issue of language in technology and cybersecurity.’
But Tory MP Nigel Mills, criticising the move, said: ‘You’d think bank bosses would have their focus on the country’s economy rather than this woke nonsense.’
It comes after Tory MP Tom Hunt branded the language guide that Mr Khan’s staff is now using as ‘woke nonsense’ in June this year.
Tory MP Nigel Mills, (pictured) criticised the move, saying: ‘You’d think bank bosses would have their focus on the country’s economy rather than this woke nonsense’
The new inclusivity guide for City Hall banned employees from using the phrase ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
Civil servants working for the Labour mayor are also barred from describing migrants as ‘illegal’ and must now call them people with ‘insecure immigration status’ or ‘undocumented’.
Employees are also urged to scrap the use of ‘asylum seekers’, instead demanding workers say ‘people seeking asylum’.
But the ultra-woke memo, leaked to The Sun, was blasted by Conservative critics who branded the document’s contents ‘absurd’.
‘This is the sort of nonsense that would be imposed on the whole country if Labour were ever to get into power,’ Mr Hunt said at the time.
‘If you’ve illegally entered our country and broken our immigration laws you’re an ‘illegal immigrant’ end of. No ifs or buts.’
In the guide’s section on gender, staff were told: ‘Avoid using “men and women” – say “people” or “Londoners”.
‘Similarly, instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’ say something that doesn’t exclude non-binary people.’
Pictured is an example of some of the banned phases issued to staff working for the London Mayor’s office
The memo reportedly goes on to say the terms male and female are ‘dated and medicalised’ and that ‘female humans are called ‘girls and/or women’, male humans are called ‘boys and/or men’.
Workers were also told that ‘not all women have periods’ and to use the phrase ‘people affected by period poverty’ as some trans men and non-binary people may have periods too.
Tory MP Miriam Cates lashed out at the guidance and told The Sun: ‘The idea that “male” and “female” are medical conditions is frankly absurd. This taxpayer-funded guidance is in conflict with fact, reality and the law.’
And on the issue of migration, the guide reportedly urges workers to not ‘make a distinction between “migrants” and “Londoners”.
‘Remember, we are all Londoners,’ it adds.
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