26 Monday May 23 2022 | the times
News
IN THE TIMES TOMORROW
BUSINESS
COMMENT
WILLIAM
HAGUE
Putin will try to surprise
and divide the West.
We must be ready
MAIN PAPERPATRICK
HOSKING
The myths about
dividends
MAIN PAPERTIMES2
IS THE SUGAR RUSH
HARMING YOUR
HEALTH?
There’s a new way to
control it
PULLOUTSPORT
ERIK TEN HAG
On his plan to revive
Manchester United
MAIN PAPERThe government has overturned an
attempt to introduce gender-neutral
language on a piece of legislation that had
referred to “expectant people” instead of
mothers.
Downing Street acted over the Minister-
ial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill,
which was designed to make provision for
ministers on maternity leave.
Before it received royal assent the bill
was amended to replace gender-neutral
nouns with gendered ones such as
“mother”.
New guidance has now been issued by
the government to ensure similar lan-
guage is not repeated in future bills.
A government source told The Times:
“The government is ensuring that
sex-specific language continues to be used
in the drafting of legislation where appro-
priate. This is crucial to ensure that the ex-
periences of women are not erased while
drafting legislation and reflects ministers’
concerns that militant Stonewall guidance
has crept into the civil service with a polit-
ical agenda to erase women and the con-
cept of biological sex.”
Legislation such as the requirement for
separate lavatories in schools for boys and
girls will now be scrutinised to ensure that
gendered language is used.
Downing Street has come under in-
creasing pressure from within the Tory
party to resist moves by pro-trans cam-
paigners to impose gender-neutral rules.
JK Rowling, the author who has previ-
ously mocked gender-neutral phrases
such as “people who menstruate”, and
other critics have been attacked for their
stance.
Peers raised their concerns about theGender neutral bill
is back with mother
Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowan-
ces Bill in debates.
Baroness Noakes, a Tory peer, criticised
“an increasing use of language that elimi-
nates women. People who challenge this in
public are often labelled transphobic”.
She said: “There is no malice in wishing
to maintain the biological facts of woman-
hood and the lived experience of women,
which includes menstruation, childbirth
and menopause. That view happily co-
exists with respect and concern for trans-
gender people.
“I am proud of my own record on LGBT
issues, both in your lordships’ House and in
the organisations with which I have been
involved, but I am not prepared to be
erased as a woman.”
Baroness Gale, a Labour peer, added:
“Considering that only women can get
pregnant and give birth, I cannot see any
reason why ‘woman’ cannot be used. I be-
lieve in using gender-neutral language
where appropriate, but I do not believe it is
appropriate in this bill.”
Baroness Hayman, a crossbencher, said:
“The price of so-called gender neutrality in
this bill is an awkward and ugly distortion
of the English language and an affront to
common sense.
“Far from encouraging respect for lan-
guage and the recognition of diversity, to
which I am fully committed, it risks
bemusing and alienating the public and
damaging the very causes that passionate
advocates of such language espouse.”
6 Charities have called on the govern-
ment to allow women with painful periods
to take specific time off work after the ap-
proval in Spain of a draft bill that would
allow those with bad menstrual pain to
have three days off a month. Employment
law in the UK states that workers should
use sick leave if they need time off.James Beal Social Affairs Editor
George GryllsJANE BARLOW/PA
Flying squad Nina
Hoffman of Germany
in the women’s elite
final yesterday at the
International Cycling
Union Downhill
Mountain Bike World
Cup near Fort William.
Police are seeking
thieves who stole bikes
worth £70,000 from
the venue on Friday