Cabinet Office minister condemns the use of slurs following newspaper investigation
A Cabinet minister has issued a stern warning to government departments that racist language will not be tolerated in any form after a newspaper investigation uncovered slurs in official documents and websites.
The Independent reported that offensive terms were found in Department for Work and Pensions guidance for doctors assessing disability benefit claims, in immigration tribunal decisions, and even in comment sections of Foreign Office and Government websites.
In response to Labour MP Kim Johnson’s demand for a review, Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin wrote that the government does not condone “racist, homophobic, sexist or any similarly unacceptable language” in official documents or online. He reassured Johnson that the Cabinet Office would remind permanent secretaries of these guidelines and ensure they are accessible to all employees in their departments and associated organisations.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson later clarified that the documents cited were from a previous period and have since been removed. The spokesperson also confirmed that all departments have been reminded of the rules regarding language use when discussing race and ethnicity.
Kim Johnson, who labelled the discovery of racist terminology in government documents as “utterly outrageous,” reiterated her call for a full investigation. She stressed that these papers were not only written by individuals who thought such language was acceptable, but had also been scrutinised, approved, and utilised by professionals within government and beyond.
Johnson pointed out that this issue is particularly concerning amid already low trust in the Government within black communities and called for immediate action to uncover the full extent of the problem and ensure it is eliminated permanently.
