British Council urges employees to steer clear of ‘Brits and Queen’s English in non-discrimination guide

  • Taxpayer-funded body will receive £189 million from the Foreign Office this year
  • Employees have been issued a guide that identifies issues of “ill-considered” language
  • The use of terms like ‘British English’ or ‘Queen’s English’ is regarded as problematic. 










Although its mission is to bring the nation into the international spotlight, the British Council has advised staff members not to use the terms “Brits” or “the Queen’s English”.

The taxpayer-funded body, which will receive £189 million from the Foreign Office this year, has issued employees with a ‘non-discriminatory’ guide that states: ‘Careless, uninformed or ill-considered use of language can categorise, marginalise, exclude or stereotype.’

According to the document, using terms such as “British English” or “Queen’s English” is considered problematic because it suggests that some varieties of English may be more accurate or have greater significance than others.

The term “native English speaker” should be avoided as it is often used to refer to the USA, UK and Australia and discriminates against non-native speakers.

The document – obtained by The Mail on Sunday under Freedom of Information legislation – advises against the use of the word ‘Brits’ to describe people from the UK, ‘as the term generally does not include people from Northern Ireland’.

The taxpayer-funded body, which will receive £189 million from the Foreign Office this year, has issued employees with a 'non-discriminatory' guide that states: 'Careless, uninformed or ill-considered use of language can categorise, marginalise, exclude or stereotype'. Pictured: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss

The taxpayer-funded body, which will receive £189 million from the Foreign Office this year, has issued employees with a ‘non-discriminatory’ guide that states: ‘Careless, uninformed or ill-considered use of language can categorise, marginalise, exclude or stereotype’. Pictured with Liz Truss (Foreign Secretary).

Because it “downplays and trivialises hurt and offense caused” in some circumstances, even ‘politically right’ can be frowned upon.

However, comments like “The colour scheme is crazy” or “They had a good fit” should not be made due to mental health implications.

It is also suggested that readers use terms such as “lower-income nation, middle-income state or fragile and affected state” instead of “developing country”. The guide suggests that they avoid using the term ‘guys”, which is often associated with men, and could be seen to exclude women. You can also use ‘friends,’ ‘team’ and ‘everyone’ as alternatives.

More than 100 countries have offices. Its website states that it promotes ‘connections between the UK and other nations through art, culture, education, and the English language.

 Screenwriter and novelist Julian Fellowes criticised the guidance, saying: ‘The British Council should be encouraging people not to take offence when no offence is intended – in other words, the exact opposite of what they are doing here.’

According to a British Council spokesperson, the guide was advisory rather than prescriptive. Globally, we reached 791,000,000 people last year. It is therefore important to reflect the diverse nature of our audiences in the language that we use.

Elle added that the organisation is committed to inclusion as a whole. The guide is intended to assist our fellow colleagues around the globe in achieving that goal.

The council has offices in more than 100 countries. According to its website, it forges 'connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language' (stock image)

More than 100 countries have offices for the council. The council’s website says it promotes understanding, trust, and connections between the UK’s people and those in other countries via arts, culture and education. (Stock image).

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