'Woke' council bans staff from calling parents 'mum and dad'

Officials in one of Britain's 'wokest' councils have asked staff to call parents "caregivers" rather than mum and dad. They say the term is more appropriate as its employees should not make assumptions about a child's biological parents.

Merton Council, in South London, is also urging workers not to use adjectives "young", "old" or "mature" to avoid being ageist. Council officials claim the words "mother" and "father" can fail to "recognise diverse family formation". However, the move has been slammed by a Free Speech Union boss as "nonsense".

As reported by The Sun, the council has an inclusive language guide, which consists of 27 pages, for staff. As well as mum and dad, the document urges workers to avoid gendered phrases such as "man the desk".

Staff are instead advised to use "person-centered language" by the council's equality and diversity team. It also warns: "Avoid making assumptions about preferred names or nicknames without asking the individual first."

Lord Toby Young, Free Speech Union boss, said: "I’m amazed that Merton Council has time for this nonsense. I can only assume fly-tipping and potholes aren’t a problem in Merton."

A spokeswoman from Meron Council added: "We aim to communicate with understanding and without making assumptions."

Earlier this year, Merton Council sparked fury for replacing street parking with empty e-bike bays. Residents in Wimbledon said the parking situation was made worse by the council's rollout of over 220 hire bays.

One person said: "They’ve taken away a vital parking space and replaced it with nothing. I've only seen one bike actually in the bay, the rest are still dumped on the pavement."

However, the council said: "E-cycle hire schemes – such as Lime and Forest bikes – are a great way to get around. However, in recent years we have received complaints of obstructive parking. To tackle this, we’re introducing a mandatory bay-only parking model which will mean that that journeys can only begin and end in one of around 350 new parking bays.

"These changes require the agreement of the operators and our talks with them have been very productive so far. Such agreements already exist in ten other London boroughs including Lambeth and Hackney.

"Bays are currently being rolled out across the borough in batches, and we expect all of them to be in place this summer. The scheme won’t come into force until all the bays are in place, so residents will continue to see bikes parked outside bays in the short-term.

"Every bay that is on the road is subject to a statutory consultation – these are advertised at the locations, as well as online, and in local newspapers.

"Whilst these consultations are not votes, we will review plans where respondents identify serious shortcomings to any particular bay – indeed, a number of proposed bays have been withdrawn or adjusted as a result of feedback."