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Latest News - Ridiculous PC Tom and Jerry's on screen smoking goes up in a
puff
After an investigation by Ofcom when it received just 1 complaint about a scene from a Tom and Jerry cartoon which showed the cat smoking - during a momentary break from the endless violence - the Boomerang Channel (which is owned by Turner Broadcasting) agreed to go back through its library of Tom and Jerry cartoons and edit out scenes which could glamorise or condone smoking. John Midgley, co-founder of CAPC, said: "Re-writing classics to avoid offence is part and parcel of our new climate of political correctness. Why should organisations roll over because one small-minded individual complains?" It's another language guide, pet! In a re-run of the Hull City Council episode last year, local government workers in Newcastle have now been told not to use traditional Geordie terms of endearment to avoid causing offence. Staff were told how they should address people in the line of duty during 'equality and diversity' courses amid fears that the colloquial expressions will be regarded as 'offensive' or 'discourteous'. Click here
for the story in the Daily Telegraph. Grandma not allowed to photograph
grandchildren in park A Grandma who was trying to take a photo of her grandchildren at a paddling pool in a park in Southampton was told that she could not do so due to fears that paedophiles could get illicit shots of young children. Suzanne Hansford said, "I was so annoyed. Are we now to be denied having photographic memories of our children and grandchildren?" Sadly this is part of a growing trend - see the "Your Stories" section of this website. There is no legal requirement for Councils to have such a policy so do complain to them and your councillors if there is a policy to deny people taking photos in your area. To read the full story in the Daily Mail click here.
Fire Station has no pole A fire station has been built without the traditional pole for fears that firemen could sprain their ankles as they hit the ground. Officials blamed lack of space and health and safety regulations for their decision that it would be better for the firemen to run down the stairs. The Station Officer in Plymouth said, "It is ludicrous. It takes about a second and a half to slide down the pole as opposed to 15 or 20 seconds to run down two flights of stairs. Seconds can be critical when responding to a 999 call."
Click here to read the Opinion of the Daily Telegraph (pdf format). Police
order woman to take down joke sign A woman who has had a tongue-in-cheek sign outside her cottage for more than 30 years has been told by police to take it down because it is deemed a "hate crime" despite local Jehovah's Witnesses saying it didn't cause offence The sign says, "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses" and was put up after Jehovah's Witnesses called on them repeatedly - even once on Christmas day.
Youth workers wear hoodies to fit
in with youngsters Click on the picture below for the story as reported in the Daily Express.
Click on the picture below for the story as reported in the Daily Star.
Warders told not to call
prisoners "prisoners" A leaked Home Office memo shows that prison warders have been told not to call prisoners "prisoners" but to call them "Mr" instead. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said "Instead of treating the offenders with kid gloves, they should implement the sort of firm but fair punishment the public expects". To see the full article in the Daily Mail click here. Enid Blyton biographer
condemns changes to children's books Enid Blyton's biographer - Barbara Stoney - backed by the Enid Blyton Society has accused publishers of bowing to political correctness. Some characters in Enid Blyton's books have been changed - some examples of the changes are listed below:
Commenting on the changes, Barbara Stoney said, "I just wonder where it will all stop. Do we start updating Jane Austen next or Dickens". Click here for the full story in the Sunday Times. Click here for the story as reported in the Daily Mail. Too much effort to fly flag for
Queen's birthday but not for gay pride The Union Flag did not fly from Bournemouth Town hall for the Queen's official 80th birthday as no staff were apparently available to hoist the flag as her birthday fell on a Saturday. However, the gay pride flag is to be flown from the hall over a weekend to coincide with the Bourne Free Pride Festival which falls on Saturday. Perhaps the solution is to fly the Union Flag all the time!
Click here or above to read the story in the Daily Mail. Click here to read the story in the Daily Express in pdf format. Paper planes diktat from school in Kent The youngsters are still allowed to make the darts but are being supervised to ensure they only launch them at the special targets which have been set up instead.
World cup political correctness Click below for our separate page on World Cup PC:
School renames classes to avoid offence Bonnyrigg Primary School in Midlothian, Scotland, has changed the numbers of its classes from 1a and 1b in case those in class 1b felt inferior to those in class 1a - despite the fact that it was quite clear that the make up of the two classes was based on the dates of birth of the pupils. For the full story click here. Council e-mail filter blocks resident's complaints - by
accident An e-mail sent to object to the erection of a neighbour's new extension was blocked by PC (Hah - PC in the computer sense) software which took exception to the word "erection". The software used by Rochdale Council did not allow the message through and the complainant did not know there was a problem until the planning permission was granted without his concerns being taken into account. You would think they may have considered that the word erection could come up in a planning department! Laura Midgley note - I regularly write to a very good friend with the heading "Hi" only to have the e-mail filter bounce the message back to me telling me that my message has been impounded for containing "banned" words or phrases. I really should remember but at least this system is relatively polite and has the decency to let me know it has a problem with my e-mail! Queen's birthday flower and flag
display a "danger"
Kate Palliser was not very amused to be told that her flower and flag display outside her shop - "Scarlet" - in Bury St Edmunds, was un-licensed and posing a danger to passers-by. To read the full story in the local paper, the Bury Free Press, click here - the paper are also responsible for the excellent picture above. "Hospital
Trust changes "patients" to "clients" To avoid "stigmatising" patients they are to be referred to as clients if they are not actually in hospital, according to Sussex Partnership NHS Trust. Click below for the Daily Express article with further information on this decision.
Airline boss
accused of being racist for picture of "lazy frog" Philip Meeson who runs the low cost airline Jet2.com posted the following picture of a frog on behalf of the many frustrated airline passengers affected by a strike by French Air Traffic Control workers. His comments were attacked as being racist!
Common sense on "Baa Baa
Rainbow Sheep" move The Sure Start Centre in Oxfordshire which appeared to have been behind a move to encourage children to sing Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep instead of Baa Baa Black Sheep has backed down over the rhyme after pressure from many different quarters - not least from the parents of children at the nursery. Click below for further details from the Daily Express.
Get your copy of 'The Politically
Correct Scrapbook' now Co-founders of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, John and Laura Midgley, are pleased to announce that their book - "The Politically Correct Scrapbook" - is now fully available and can be ordered directly from us for £7.99 per copy or £20 for 3 copies including postage and packing in the UK. To find out more click here or the picture below.
Cartoon branded "potentially
racist" A cartoon which featured in a newspaper for licensees - the Morning Advertiser - was branded potentially racist by Ivan Kolbé of the French Embassy. In a letter to the paper's editor he said he found the cartoon in question, "totally unfunny, potentially racist and quite out of place on the eve of Armistice Day". So, for those of you who can't wait to see the cartoon from the Morning Advertiser at the centre of the row click the picture below to be enlightened!
Happy "Non-PC" 200th
Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar Click the picture below to see the full size cartoon we have specially commissioned of a PC Battle of Trafalgar and click on the "W" for the spoof conversation between Nelson and Hardy which has been doing the rounds (in Word format).
Our sincere thanks go to artist Beverley Rodgers who did the picture - you can find out more about Beverley on www.ArtistForYou.com. Cooing at new born babies banned as it
breaches their human rights Police in Cornwall told a witness that they could not use the phrase "gypsy skirt" to describe the long floaty skirt - very much in fashion at present - that someone involved in an incident was wearing and instead said that it had to be referred to as a "traveller skirt". This might just be taking the "don't mention the word gypsy" line a little bit too far! Our biscuits were the first to be affected (see story below on "Romany Creams") and now it is this season's hottest skirts...whatever next? Actually we may regret asking this! When a "Gypsy" cream
turns into a "Romany" cream Click below to see a "Gypsy" cream which has mysteriously become a "Romany" cream - now when did that happen??
Saddam
Hussein & Osama Bin Laden - villains - oh not they're not A puppeteer in Broadstairs has been rapped for portraying Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein as villains in a version of Punch and Judy. The good news is that virtually all the crowd were in fits of laughter and it was only a small minority who did not see the funny side! Punch and Judy in amazing
comeback - that's the way to do it! It is with great pleasure that we report that Punch and Judy have been landing real blows to those who push political correctness. We have mentioned Punch and Judy shows on many occasions not least because they were one of the first to be attacked by political correctness, they are one of the oldest running shows making this one of the most ridiculous cases of political correctness we've seen! To
see how Punch and Judy have fought political correctness and succeeded
please click here
for today's Daily Telegraph article on the subject. This is a good
example of how political correctness can be beaten but we need to keep the
pressure up just in case anyone gets any other funny ideas! For further details about Ronnie Alden and how to book him for a show please click on the pictures below:
Now you can't be a bachelor boy
until your dying day! The terms "Spinster" and "Bachelor" will no longer be allowed on marriage certificates as the Registrar General says that they cannot be applied to homosexuals. The replacement phrase "Single" will be used when the new Civil Partnership Act is introduced in December. No
more rounds of rounders The temporary headteacher of Hollybrook School near Southampton has banned the annual rounders match between staff and pupils in case someone is injured and decides to sue. Is it deferred success? No
- it is a deferred letter! Click below to see John Midgley's letter in the Daily Mail regarding the use of the term "deferred success" instead of failure.
This
Morning tackles issue of political correctness Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton discussed political correctness and attitudes to risk with Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, and Lawrence Waterman, Director of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. You can see the list of examples given for the show by clicking the above banner or here.
EU
could ban bare-chested builders Sunlight could be included in employers' risk assessments of eye and skin damage under proposed EU law. Bare-chested builders could be forced to cover up whilst at work under the law which would make employers take account of UV rays and infrared sources. Critics of the scheme say that it goes too far and if workers want to get a sun tan whilst they work then why shouldn't they? Don't
let political correctness ruin Trafalgar victory celebrations As the Queen sets out on her Fleet Review and Trafalgar Day celebrations commence, it is sad to think that the event has been tinged by an element of political correctness. This comes in the form of the re-enactment of a sea battle (and not the Battle of Trafalgar) with a red navy and a blue navy so as not to offend the French. In fact, Vice Admiral Jacques Mazars, who is in charge of five French vessels taking part, said: "It's not done to put the UK from one side and France and Spain from the other, but it is done to have a common memory of what has occurred 200 years ago. It is a festival of the sea.'' However, Lord Nelson's great great great
granddaughter, Anna Tribe, has attacked this decision saying, "I
am sure the French and Spanish are adult enough to appreciate we did win
that battle. I am anti political correctness. Very much against it. It
makes fools of us.'' A pub in Vauxhall has cleverly found its own way to get round the Government's new dislike of happy hours. Instead of offering cheaper drinks during a "happy hour" they offer cheaper drinks during a "work wind down". Whether one can always call running this campaign "working" we are more than happy to take advantage of the cheaper priced bottles of champagne to celebrate a good day tackling political correctness! We know that this isn't strictly an example of political correctness but could not resist mentioning a minor success against the nanny state in which we live!
The Yorkshire spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness made his maiden speech in Parliament yesterday - starting as he means to go on. Philip Davies, the newly elected MP for Shipley said, "Before entering Parliament, I worked for the supermarket chain Asda in customer service and marketing. It provided the best possible grounding for a politician because I met so many people from so many backgrounds. Whoever said "the customer is always right" never worked for Asda. I encountered the customer who accused us of being racist towards Irish people, because we sold "thick Irish sausages". Trying to persuade her that "thick" related to the sausages and not to the Irish was beyond me. Hon. Members should therefore understand why I will campaign hard against the blight of political correctness, which is doing so much damage to our country. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."]". Things are not ship-shape and Bristol fashion Wyre
Forest District Council apparently told new members of the council not to
say, "Ship-shape and Bristol fashion" or "nitty
gritty" as these were potentially racist phrases.
"Ship-shape and Bristol fashion" was said to be a derogatory
description of black people who were ready for sale as slaves but this is
completely wrong as the phrase refers to getting a ship into shape for use
and the reference to Bristol comes from Bristol's time as a big trading
port. "People
are being pushed too far. We are respectful of the rights and
responsibilities of minorities but people now feel the balance is
wrong," said CAPC co-founder John Midgley. On
his website, www.capc.co.uk there is a list of incidents which he thinks
are symptomatic of the "way we are going in this country". As we've said before it is not so much the words or phrases that we should be so worried about but the way in which they are used. We do not think that it is acceptable for people to go out of their way to be offensive but this is more to do with respect for others, tolerance and basic good manners rather than anything more complicated. It is certainly nothing to do with political correctness in whose name intolerance and disrespect is spreading. Daffodil
gift banned for Lib Dem bias Council
staff banned a woman from giving daffodils to librarians because the
flowers' colour could be construed as a sign of support for the Liberal
Democrats whose logo is yellow. Medway council eventually apologised
to Mrs Jewess whose daffodils had unbelievable turned into a political
flower - never mind football - and the flowers were accepted. Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea has come under attack for not featuring women in its instruction manuals.....by the Prime Minister of Norway! Ikea, which has a strong presence in the UK, has hit back saying that they do feature women in their manuals but only after a spokesman allegedly said that they had to be careful using women as it could be problematic in Muslim countries. We, at the Campaign Against Political Correctness, could not care less whether they use men, women or even gingerbread style people to illustrate their instructions. However, we would like to request that they do not use what must be 8 foot giants with 6 foot long elastic arms shown in positions that normally flexible people simply cannot ever hope to achieve! That would be very helpful and of far more concern to us than the sex of the person in the picture. Egg
and spoon race compensation claim denied Those who are in favour of our increasing compensation culture have been left with egg over their face today (sorry could not resist) after a claim for damages, following a fall in a mock egg and spoon race, was rejected in court. Although this is not necessarily a case of political correctness in itself, the compensation culture is certainly a close relative. The court, on this occasion, has come to a common sense conclusion ruling that: "Regrettably, she fell and was injured. It was an accident." In this nanny state age where accidents (which, as they say, do happen) are being replaced by a blame culture, it is good to see a chink of common sense and we very much welcome this decision. For the full story on the Daily Telegraph website click here. I'm not ill - I'm
minimising my attendance Swansea Council is proposing to scrap their "sickness absence policy" and call it "minimising attendance at work". We hope that all those who pay their taxes in Swansea are very pleased that this is clearly the only thing that the council has to worry about! This is just about as daft as the Home Office's announcement that its "Prolific and Other Priority Offender scheme" cannot be shortened to the acronym "POPO" any more after it was discovered that it was Turkish for "bottom". Why can’t we use
the “C” word….. …. was the subject up for debate on BBC Three Counties Breakfast Show – the “C” word being Christmas. John Midgley outlined his view that Christmas was a time of celebration and not an occasion to be subjected to the patronizing attitudes of the politically correct brigade. He said it was “lunacy” to call the Christmas lights, as one shopping centre had done, “Luminos.” It was daft for a school in Luton to instruct parents not to bring in a video camera in case the pictures of their children in the nativity play fell into the “wrong hands.” We have to wonder who really gets upset by “Christmas” celebrations apart from the PC brigade who appear not to think through the consequences of their actions. Banning the word “Christmas” and things associated with it – from nativity plays to Advent calendars; from Christmas lights to Father Christmas’ grottos – is the tip of the iceberg and symptomatic of the wider malaise of political correctness that is affecting the country. Even stranger than strangers The Mother of Parliaments looks set to abandon one of its traditional terms - "strangers" - which is used to describe visitors to the Commons. Three cheers therefore to Sir Patrick Cormack MP for attacking this decision. Sir Patrick is one of the longest serving members and has said that he has never heard a complaint about the use of the term and likened the abolition of using the word “strangers” to “politically correct rubbish.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves! Winter Festival comes to Shropshire
Ellesmere Chamber of Commerce in Shropshire have decided to use the term "Winter Festival" this year for the Christmas celebrations in the town. John Midgley, from the Campaign Against Political Correctness, attacked the decision saying, "To remove the word Christmas from the town’s festivities is ridiculous. People are not dashing around at this time of year to buy winter presents. They are not going out buying winter cake nor listening to winter songs.” In this season of goodwill, John Midgley said, "We call on the Chamber to go back to using the word Christmas for if we are not celebrating Christmas then what are we supposed to be celebrating?" Political Correctness on Century FM in the
North East The issue of the day on Century FM in the North East was on the subject of political correctness today. Many people called in with their personal experiences of political correctness and John Midgley, from the Campaign Against Political Correctness, gave an interview agreeing that political correctness had gone too far. One caller said that he worked for a transport firm in the North East and had been told that he could no longer use the word "dipstick" and instead had to use the phrase "oil level indicator". Another listener said that the teacher at her child's school was trying to teach the children to sing "Baa Baa green sheep". Santa ban off The Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham has confirmed that it will be having Father Christmas on the premises in the run up to Christmas and that he will, in fact, be making a daily appearance. There had been reports that he had been banned but we are pleased to see that this is not the case. It is fairly likely, however, that Father Christmas may be under threat in other parts of the country and we would ask that you keep an eye out to make sure that he does not mysteriously disappear in your area! If you do hear of any talk of Winterfest or the banning of carols or nativity plays or Christmas cards with Christmas messages etc do let us know so that we can see what can be done to rectify the position! Poppy PC The celebration of peace and the end to a great victory for freedom has sadly not been without politically correct interference. Some poppy showers have not been allowed to go ahead for health and safety reasons, some people have been given poppies without pins and some have found it very difficult to find one to buy as sellers have been shamefully restricted. But what those who push political correctness cannot do is dampen the pride we feel for those who gave their lives to protect this country and this should be remembered at all times. The British Legion raises many millions from its poppy appeal alone and many more millions throughout the year. It employs mainly disabled people without a law saying that they have to and we must continue to celebrate this great organisation and all those who fought to save our country. To find out more about Remembrance Day activities and the British Legion go to www.poppy.org. Don't miss the flyover of London at 6pm when an amazing three million poppy petals will be dropped from aircraft and many London landmarks will be lit up in red in a fantastic tribute.
What's in a name? When buying British is not
always best Backstroke is too dangerous Banning conkers is bonkers The latest trend to hit our schools is the banning of conkers. Some schools are banning conkers after undertaking risk assessments and deciding they are too dangerous. Others are banning them on the grounds that they pose the threat of a nut allergy although they are not technically nuts and nobody has ever been ill or died as a result of coming into contact with a conker. Dick Whittington falls foul of
e-mail filters A television presenter in Norwich e-mailed 30 primary schools in Norfolk asking them if they would be interested in a free performance of a scene from the pantomime "Dick Whittington" for their assemblies. When she only received 1 reply she called some of the schools to check that they had received the e-mail. It turns out that the e-mail filtering service had blocked the e-mails because of the pantomime's title! Travel photo of naked Indian boy
called pornographic A picture of a little naked Indian boy has been removed from a charity photographic exhibition after one complaint was made. The picture of the little boy was on show in Bangor's flagship shopping centre in Northern Ireland and was part of an exhibition to highlight poverty in India. Commenting on BBC Radio Ulster this morning, Laura Midgley from the Campaign Against Political Correctness said that it was very sad indeed that the camera club and the shopping centre management had been accused of displaying pornographic material when in fact what they were showing was reality for people like this little boy. Laura Midgley said that from her experience during a month long visit to India the little boy would have been delighted if he knew that his photograph had been taken as it was quite a novelty for many of the children in India to see a camera and better still to be thought worthy enough of a photograph. She also questioned what would have happened if the terrible scenes following the siege in Russia had taken place in the UK. As a result of the constant drive to over-protect children it would be likely that people would have been more concerned about how they picked the fleeing children up rather than what should be the number one priority - i.e. to get them out of danger as quickly as possible. Person required Adverts for female or male flatmate could be a thing of the past if the EU gets its way and makes them the subject of equal opportunities policies. The EU says that adverts may only say "Person wanted" to ensure "sexual equality in access to goods and services" regardless of the preferences of the person placing the advert over the very important issue of who they live with. Defending Humpty Dumpty
and Punch and Judy Nothing wrong with
flying the flag We were pleased to respond to a story in
the Bazingstoke Gazette claiming that the flying of the Flag of St George
caused "division" and was "intimidating to
minorities". You can read our response (complete with newspaper
editing!) by clicking the two pictures below.
I vow to thee my .. um
..
Competitive sports days
win When a faggot is no
longer a ball of chopped liver Phone: 0845 456 3000 or 020 7981 3040 Post: Ofcom Contact Centre, Riverside House, 2a
Southwark Bridge Road, London Punch and Judy Update Click below for CAPC press coverage on the front page of the Shropshire Star on Tuesday 15 June 2004.
Parliamentary Support
for the Flag of St George The Campaign Against
Political Correctness is delighted to hear of Early Day Motion 1325
entitled "Supporting England" tabled by Nigel Evans MP which
says: Pub Calls Time on Ban on Flags The Arena pub chain has retracted their earlier ban of the flying of the Flag of St George during the European Championship this summer. They had initially wanted the ban so as not to offend women, encourage extremism and promote hooliganism. Thankfully they have seen the error of their ways (or the potential plummeting in income through unhappy customers) and have said that their pubs can fly the flag "if they want to". Let's hope they have learned a valuable lesson from all this. That's Not The Way
To Do It! Just click on the pictures
below to make them bigger Click below for the
original Story in Shropshire Star Eeny meeny miney mo...which will
be the next to go? Posters for Galaxy ice cream have been
branded racist and withdrawn as they showed four spoons with the words
"eeny", "meeny", "miney" and "mo"
alongside them. These words were said to be offensive as the next line of
older versions of this well used rhyme was "catch a nigger by the
toe". The fact that the advert did not use this line and that
children up and down the country still use eeny meeny miney mo as a means
of choosing was not enough to save this advert in these PC times.
A Sad End For Humpty Dumpty - or is it? |
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e-mail: Info@CAPC.co.uk
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