Lifestyle

Ashley James masterclass sees Gyles Brandreth walk away with his tail between his legs

Ashley James and Gyles Brandreth clashed over the latest culture war issue to have right-ringers up in arms on ITV’s This Morning.

Following the flag fracas and the National Trust scones debate, news that Penny Mordaunt has demanded Whitehalls chiefs to stop using ‘woke’ language in official documents has got the usual political commentators excited.

In a letter to permanent secretaries, the Commons leader said official bodies should avoid using ‘gender neutral language’ in contexts where traditional words like mother and father would be more accurate.

The new guidance says gender-neutral language should not be used when drawing up laws in areas that are ‘concerned only or mainly with people of one sex’, such as pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

It prompted Brandreth to intervene with a story of his own from a nurse who works in a London hospital who says she has been told to refer to breastfeeding as “chestfeeding” when talking to mothers, which as this guidance shows only applies to patients who are trans or non-binary.

Thankfully, Ashley James was on hand to interject with this absolutely stunning interjection:

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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