Banking giant Lloyds has been branded a laughing stock after its boss banned the word 'widows' in new inclusive language guidance.
The company appears to have opened itself up to further criticism as Lloyd’s Banking Groups owns the high-profile insurer Scottish Widows.
Lloyds, which holds the crown of Britain’s biggest lender, was accused of adopting a “nanny-state approach” after issuing a long list of everyday terms for its 57,000 workers to avoid in case they cause offence.
“Headless chicken”, “lost in translation” and “sold down the river” were all identified as phrases or colloquialisms deemed unacceptable.
Lloyds Bank is coming under fire for its new language guide
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The term “guinea pig” might even upset vegans because it is associated with “experimentation on non-human animals”.
Lloyds' decision to ban the use of the word “widow” comes as the banking group suggested it was “unnecessarily vivid” and may “trigged unwarranted personal memories or trauma and upsetting situations”.
It even claimed using the term “separated” would be preferred.
The bank appeared to launch its “inclusive language” guide due to “barriers based on ... social mobility, education, religion, accessibility, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation”.
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Scottish Widows is a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank
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Mark Brown, general secretary of the BTU trade union, said: “The more we allow people to claim they have been offended because they disagree with the use of certain words or phrases, the more they will seize the opportunity to be offended.'“
He added: “Is this kind of nanny state approach to language going to make things better or worse in Lloyds?”
Referring to the censure of the word “widow”, Brown argued: “Lloyds is engaged in the most hypocritical form of virtue signalling.
“If it really believed in the use of inclusive language, then it would change the Scottish Widows brand name immediately.
“The fact that's not going to happen tells you all you need to know about 'inclusive language' in Lloyds Banking Group.
Lloyds Bank issued its advice to its 57,000-strong workforce
GETTY“It's a gimmick – Lloyds has become a woke laughing stock.”
A Lloyds spokesperson said the bank was always looking at ways to engage, debate and be collaborative with staff.
They added: “The voluntary inclusivity tool is designed to be a self-moderated way for colleagues to explore how people may feel about different words and phrases.
“As is par for the course when crowd-sourcing for ideas, some are better than others.”
However, Lloyds also said there were no plans to change the name of its subsidiary Scottish Widows.
