Politicians told to mind their language
Official language can confuse and mislead the public - and results in £300 million of underpaid tax a year, HM Revenue and Customs estimates
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Monday, 30, Nov 2009 04:41
By Emmeline Saunders
Politicians and civil servants should steer clear of using "officialese" or risk being mocked by the public and media, a parliamentary committee has suggested.
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) said parliamentarians should use clear, honest and understandable language as politics is a public activity.
Committee chair Tony Wright MP said: "Good government requires good language, while bad language is a sign of poor government.
"Far too often, government uses language that obscures, confuses or evades. We propose that cases of bad official language should be treated as 'maladministration', as for any other type of poor administration.
"Complaints made on this basis must be dealt with properly. This would help ensure that government takes seriously its responsibility to use good, clear and understandable language."
The committee was concerned that official language damaged the public's understanding of policies or how to access public services such as benefits.
Poor language that is hard to understand should be targeted with mockery and a complaints system, the committee concluded.
It emerged that Tessa Jowell, the minister for the Cabinet office, kept a "little book of b*****ks" in which she noted down government jargon and 'gobbledegook'.
"I have what I call a b*****ks list where I just sit in meetings and I write down some of the absurd language we use — and we are all guilty of this, myself included," she said.
"The risk is when you have been in government for eight years you begin to talk the language which is not the language of the real world."
PASC suggested people should be able to complain about cases of confusing or misleading language as they would for other types of poor administration, and if government and public sector bodies do not respond, the complaints should be taken to an ombudsman.
Professor David Crystal, a language expert, said good language should be celebrated and encouraged, referring to Churchill and President Obama as examples of politicians who used language well.
Clarifying official language would lead people to comply with requests for accurate information, the committee believes.
HM Revenue and Customs estimates that taxpayers completing their self-assessment forms incorrectly lose £300 million a year in underpaid tax, due to misleading language.