http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... eists.html"Singing from the same hymn sheet" may upset atheists
Town hall staff have been banned from using the phrase 'singing from the same hymn sheet' because it could upset atheists.
By Chris Hastings, Public Affairs Editor
Salisbury council has told employees that the religious connotations of the saying, which has been in common parlance for centuries, can offend non-believers.
The same authority has also instructed officials not to use the phrase 'colour blind' but instead to refer to a person as having 'colour visual impairment'.
Other councils have instructed staff to be careful about using the word 'black' as well as 'British', because they could upset people, while the phrase 'West Indian' should also be avoided.
The instructions, which have been criticised for showing excessive political correctness, come a week after The Sunday Telegraph revealed that several authorities had banned basic Latin phrases such as 'ad hoc', 'etc' and 'status quo' because they were too complicated for people to understand.
The advice from Salisbury council says: "Avoid office and council jargon wherever possible, including phrases such as 'moving forward' and 'singing from the same hymn sheet'.
Say what you mean, so instead of 'moving forward' try 'in the future'. Not everyone understand these phrases – some can actually cause offence (what would an atheist want with your hymn sheet?)."
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, last night condemned the move.
"I think it has gone far too far," he said. "The phrase has been around for a very long time and is very common. I use it myself. Of course we should all avoid phrases which can cause unnecessary offence, but this isn't one of them."
Colin Slee, the Dean of Southwark, last night accused the council of excessive politically correctness.
"This is complete nonsense and yet another example of political correctness being dictated by someone who doesn't understand religious faith," he said.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind said it avoided the term "visual impairment'; a spokesman said: "We always use the terms 'blind' and 'partially sighted' when talking to members of the public."
Other local authorities across the country have also declared war on particular words and phrases which they consider racist, sexist, nationalistic or homophobic.
Caerphilly council in Wales has asked staff to be careful about using the phrase British, because "it implies a false sense of unity" and is upsetting to many people in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The council's written guidance to staff states: "Many would argue that one way to denote ethnic minority people in this country would be to describe them as 'British Asians', 'Chinese British' etc.
One advantage is that by referring to two ethnicities it avoids any suggestion that a person has to choose between them for identity.
However, 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."
In guidance on the issue of race, the same council has asked staff to be "sensitive to the many negative connotations relating to the word 'black' in the English language (black leg, black list, black spot etc)"
Watford council has banned the term West Indian because "it's inappropriate and never used in the Caribbean". Yet the Caribbean cricket team is known as the West Indies and dozens of British organisations are proud to advertise their West Indian credentials in their names.
Andrew Roberts, the broadcaster and historian said: "The British West Indian regiment won 19 military crosses during World War One. It is a slur on their memory that the title 'West Indian' should be singled out by some know-nothing, politically-correct bureaucrat."
Kathy Lette, the author and broadcaster, said: "Political correction is a vowel cancer eating away at the English language. The PC police are not just washing our mouths out with soap, they're dipping our mother tongue in disinfectant - and the taste is terrible.
Watford council has also told staff to replace 'able-bodied' with 'non-disabled', and not to use the term 'homosexual'. It prefers the description 'gay man'.
Several councils including Amber Valley, Broadland, Salisbury and North Yorkshire have banned words and phrases they consider sexist and which exclude 'members of our audience'.
Salisbury has told staff to avoid "gender-specific roles" such as 'cleaning lady' and 'ten man team'. It prefers the descriptions 'cleaner' and 'ten strong team'. Amber Valley has banned such terms as 'man made', 'man in the street', 'manning' and 'one man show', replacing them with 'synthetic', 'people in general', 'staffing' and 'one person show'. Broadland council in Norfolk has replaced 'housewife' with 'homemaker' and substituted 'partner' for 'husband' and 'wife'.
Many councils say they are instituting 'plain English' policies to make their communications easier to understand.
Poole council said it had spent an undisclosed sum on a "successful plain English day last year" and was now booking additional sessions.
The plain English message seems to be struggling to hit home however.
In reply to The Sunday Telegraph's Freedom of Information request, Poole council stated that it was booking the extra sessions due to "strong demand from our service functions". The council also said it had issued a better English guide "to all our communication network facilitators".
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