A new occasional series on the words encountered in Town Halls.
To quote from Yes Minister: "I Brief. You Leak. He contravenes the Official Secrets Act." Or from another (the only other?) libertarian TV series - The Prisoner: " 'Have you no values, No 6?' 'Different values.' "
Any councillor will have sat in on meetings where demands are made for any number of hoops to be jumped through to satisfy the requirements of political correctness. Yet without irony the same people will quickly denounce others for being "judgemental." Take adoption for example. Common sense would indicate that a married couple having demonstrated a commitment to each other would offer a more likely prospect for a permanent loving home for a child than a couple who are cohabiting. Yet, such a consideration is illegal. It is deemed "judgemental" by the same social workers who are only too demanding that the prospective adopters should tick all the boxes on ethnicity, gay rights, smoking, attending grief counselling sessions, and so on.
"I raise appropriate concerns. You are being judgemental. He is in breach of committee protocol."
