Even tour guides falling foul of the woke ‘word police’

TOUR guides in Scotland have been advised not to use ‘non-inclusive’ language such as ‘son or daughter’ or ‘mum and dad’.

A list of problematic words also includes: ‘ladies and gentlemen’, ‘man and woman’, ‘sister and brother’, ‘he and she’, ‘guys’ and even ‘family’.

The advice comes from taxpayerfunded Historic Environment Scotland (HES) which runs more than 300 sites including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Fort George in Inverness.

But last night it prompted a backlash, with one critic saying it was ‘lacking in all common sense’.

Tour guides and customer-facing staff have been given a list of ‘more inclusive alternatives’ to gendered words. It includes changing ‘mum and dad’ to ‘grown-ups’.

The guide says: ‘The most important thing is to avoid presuming that you can accurately tell a person’s gender or background.’

It suggests the ‘non-inclusive’ mode of referring to someone as ‘he or she’ is replaced with ‘they’, and ‘brother or sister’ is changed to ‘friend or buddy’.

HES has said that the information ‘Inclusive language – LGBT+ guidance for customer-facing colleagues’ is not mandatory.

However, the guide says that deviating from the advice warrants an apology and should be ‘an opportunity to learn’.

It says: ‘If you realise you have made a mistake, apologise as soon as you can. You could do this in public to help the person feel you have taken them seriously. Or you may consider doing so in private if it’s more appropriate.’

Scottish Conservative MSP

Rachael Hamilton criticised the move, saying: ‘It is difficult to imagine how anyone would be offended by the innocent language Historic Environment Scotland has taken issue with.

‘This advice may be well-intentioned, but it is lacking in all common sense.

‘By telling staff not to use these completely normal words and phrases, Historic Environment Scotland has only ensured staff will spend more time secondguessing themselves than engaging with visitors to Scotland’s most famous attractions.

‘Historic Environment Scotland should scrap this stifling guidance and allow employees to do their jobs and express themselves freely and naturally on the topics they know best.’

An HES spokesman said: ‘Our guidance for visitor operations staff categorically does not ban the use of any words or phrases – it gives some examples of commonly used language and suggests more inclusive alternatives.

‘This is to ensure our staff can avoid presuming a person’s background and use inclusive language so that everyone feels welcomed and respected.’