Kate Garraway warns Oxfam CEO scrapping ‘mother and father’ in language guide ‘feels like woke gone mad’

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The CEO of Oxfam has defended a guide on inclusive language sent to staff in which it advises not to use words like ‘mother and father’ or ‘people.’

Charity CEO Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah was quizzed about the booklet on Friday’s Good Morning Britain, after it made headlines for warning against using words with colonial implications and phrases which could appear not to be inclusive.

In the guide, staff are told words that age people, such as ‘youth’ and ‘the elderly’ are better off avoided, and acknowledged the booklet was originally written in English, ‘the language of a colonising nation.’

The move has proved controversial, however some have pointed out that the use of ‘parent or guardian’ has long been used in place of mother or father, such as in schools, as some children may not have a mother or father.

CEO Dhananjayan appeared on GMB on Friday where he was quizzed by hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard, with the former saying she found it ‘laudable’ that the charity was being ‘sensitive.’

However she added: ‘It feels like sort of, wokeness gone mad. That’s what people are saying, that’s what they’re worried about.’

The Oxfam CEO defended the booklet by pointing out that parent or guardian had long been used over ‘mother and father’ and they were simply updating the guide (Picture: ITV)

Kate said that people had donated to the charity to help those in need through Oxfam’s ‘incredible’ work, and asked Dhananjayan if he could tell viewers how much the guide had cost to create.

The CEO said he could not say how much it cost, but insisted it was ‘a very small cost’ as it is ‘an update to an existing guide.’

He said that Oxfam has learned in its 80 years of charity work that ‘the how matters as much as the what.’

Kate lauded the charity for its sensitivity but said it was being viewed as ‘wokeness gone mad’ (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

‘We work in diverse communities all across the world, and we’ve learned that if we’re going to end poverty we have to take everyone with us – and using inclusive language is an important way of showing dignity and respect for people we work with.’

Ben responded by saying GMB viewers were ‘not being taken with you’ as they took to Twitter to share their unhappiness at the booklet, and asked: ‘What is offensive about words like headquarters, like mother?’

To which Dhananjayan explained this was not new, as ‘a lot of forms already say parent or guardian, they don’t say mother or father.’

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As for the description of English being a colonial language, he said: ‘It’s a fact that English was spread across the world though colonialism,’ but Oxfam is ‘a proud manifestation of British internationalism and kindness.’

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV

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