Jottings
News from the UK and around the World
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Woke Watch
This month , pride of place for jumping on the woke bandwagon must go to the Halifax Building Society in the UK which announced ( on Twitter , where else ?) that “ pronouns matter .” For this reason , it argued that staff would start wearing name badges bearing their preferred pronouns .
The news was accompanied by a photo of Gemma ’ s name badge with the pronouns “ she / her / hers ” printed underneath . So far , so woke , except that their members were not consulted . And they were not impressed .
The fatal blow came when those who complained of “ pathetic virtue signalling ” were told by a member of the
Halifax ’ s social media team identified only as Andy M , “ If you disagree with our values , you ’ re welcome to close your account .”
Which many promptly did by pulling out investments and closing ISAs . Experts in high street branding have compared the Halifax ’ s PR disaster to Gerald Ratner who in 1991 described the products sold by his family jewellery company as “ total crap .” The value of the Ratner group immediately fell by about £ 500 million , forcing Mr Ratner out as CEO .
Meanwhile , Britain ’ s Scout Association and Girlguiding have both issued advice on avoiding language likely to offend . The Common Sense group of MPs has referred to the guidance as “ woke claptrap .”
Scouts are being told to avoid terms such as “ falling on deaf ears ,” “ man made ,” and “ dinner ladies .” An individual ’ s first name is no longer a “ Christian name ” while the term “ maiden name ” is described as “ outdated .” Australia and New Zealand should not be referred to as “ down under ” while the game of Chinese Whispers has been renamed “ Broken Telephone .” ( At least they admit something is broken .)
The Scout Association is already feeling the backlash for its recent introduction of a “ trans fun badge ” for boys as young as four , along with “ bisexual fun ,”
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