Council ranks term 'British' with 'negroes' and bans it in case it upsets Scots, Welsh and minorities

 

By Neil Sears

Last updated at 11:24 PM on 11th November 2008

 

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The word ‘British’ can be as offensive as ‘negro’ and ‘half-caste’, according to a race relations body.

 

The publicly-funded organisation’s views have been adopted by Caerphilly council in South Wales for a leaflet advising staff on how to deal with the public.

 

In a section on what words or phrases not to use to avoid causing offence, the leaflet solemnly informs the council’s 9,000 workers: ‘The idea of “British” implies a false sense of unity – many Scots, Welsh and Irish resist being called British and the land denoted by the term contains a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions.’

 

Caerphilly, where council workers have been warned not to use the term 'British' for fear of offending ethnic minorities

The suggestion the word ‘British’ should be avoided appears alongside similar sections which warn that ‘half-caste’ implies ‘a person is not whole and so should be avoided’ and that ‘negro’ has ‘racist overtones and is linked with the slave trade’.

 

The man behind the advice is former Labour minister Ron Davies – who lost his Cabinet job in 1998 after what he described as a ‘moment of madness’, when he was robbed after meeting a man on Clapham Common, a well-known gay haunt.

He has been the head of Valleys Race Equality Council (Valrec) for five years. Valrec is funded by councils and the Commission for Racial Equality and it pays Mr Davies £27,000 a year.

 

 

 

 

Equalities Director Ron Davies (left), issued guidelines to council workers warning them not to use the term 'British' but Conservative MP David Davies (right) condemned the guidelines as 'political correctness gone mad'

He said: ‘It’s just for information, there’s no advice or instruction. Of this council’s employees, 3,900 describe themselves as white British, whereas 5,400 describe themselves as white Welsh.

 

‘So this information is very much in accordance with the way that people in Caerphilly identify themselves.’

 

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But Tory MP David Davies, MP for Monmouth said: ‘There’s absolutely nothing offensive about describing people as British.

 

‘This is political correctness gone mad. Organisations like this are using public money to propagate their own narrow nationalistic ideas.

 

'Perhaps they should be replaced by a single body that promotes Britishness and encourages everyone in this country, whether black, Asian or white to unite and stand together under the British flag.’

 

Rugby legend Gareth Edwards, who won 53 caps for Wales and ten for the British Lions, said last night: ‘I’m very proud to be Welsh and if anybody asks me where I’m from, I’ll say Wales. But I’m also British – I’ve played for the British Lions and I’m very proud of that too.’

 

Less than one per cent of Caerphilly’s 170,000 residents are from ethnic minorities – and figures from the last census suggest only 15 per cent of the total identify themselves as Welsh.

 

Asked about the leaflet, entitled Equalities in the Delivery of Council Services, a council spokesman said: ‘We are committed to equality and we always try to ensure that everyone is treated equally, regardless of sex, race or religion.

‘However, we also recognise that political correctness can sometimes be taken too far and we try to strike the right balance.’

Brits:rolleyes:

what the hell.

 

lol it's like people saying, I can't call you Floridian cos it might upset some fellow americans.

What?..... What?... :huh:

 

I've spent enough time in Belfast to have an inkling of how complicated some people's relationship with the term is. But I always get the impression that it has more to do with the way various incarnations the British government has behaved over the last few centuries and the ways certain people and cultures have been hurt by that (trying to wipe the Welsh language off the face of the earth for example) than anything to do with race.

 

But you still need a catch-all term for member of the UK. British is the only one I've ever heard. And it's a good term. People around the world think highly of it. Political correctness gone mad indeed.

 

^I think it's more like saying I can't call you American since people associate it with Yankees which might upset someone from Texas. In other words, complete absurdity.

 

^I think it's more like saying I can't call you American since people associate it with Yankees which might upset someone from Texas. In other words, complete absurdity.

 

Or like calling a native of Quebec a Canadian??:P

Or like calling a native of Quebec a Canadian??:P

Touche. :(

No, I just don't know a lot of people who would refer to themselves as British. Also many outside Britain think that English and British is the same.

This is so stupid. I to me, and I definitely not trying to be racist here, but don't most people class white people as one race but class black people in different races depending on where they come from. I use the words 'black' and 'white' is great distaste because I disaggree with the terms but it is only used to get my message across.

Is the message that you are a filthy racist scumbag?

Absolutely. And so is Brit if Paki is.

This is so stupid. I to me, and I definitely not trying to be racist here, but don't most people class white people as one race but class black people in different races depending on where they come from. I use the words 'black' and 'white' is great distaste because I disaggree with the terms but it is only used to get my message across.

 

I don't get this. It's wrong to class people according to their skin colour. The idea that it isn't politically-correct to mention someone's skin colour when describing their looks doesn't make sense either though.

 

And the where they come from bit is quite tricky because there are a lot of black or Asian people, who are English, French, American,... It can be quite offensive to ask them "where they are really from" when they've lived in this country all their lives and so have their parents.

Absolutely. And so is Brit if Paki is.

 

it depends on the context

and what context are you thinking of? A cricket match?

and what context are you thinking of? A cricket match?

 

Well hopefully not today's, because we got thrashed!!:dozey:

It appears we are all singing from the same hymn sheet, wait I'm not allowed to say that either :(

*slaps David*

 

This is insane, people have their priorities entirely wrong. I worry about the human race and only hope that the warming of the globe wipes everyone out. :smug:

That hurt :(

 

Did I say something bad :(

i take everything back. Im not very good at explaining things

That hurt :(

 

Did I say something bad :(

 

Yes your hymn comment. Deeply offensive to a Catholic atheist like myself.

Oh no wait, it isn't, my mistake!

i dont get it how can a term that is supposedly against british people effect scottish people makes no sense

Hey it made the front page of the local newspaper :P

Oh noes!

i dont get it how can a term that is supposedly against british people effect scottish people makes no sense

 

It's the Scottish they want out of the union, and as an English man, let it be. They can run their own country now, just keep the queen as head of state, like the channel islands :)

I find it offensive when I'm called British:P

You European :P