A new report by The Independent has revealed that the N-word was visible on the United Kingdom government’s official website for the last eight years. The word was used to describe Black people on the gov.uk site. In addition, the racist term was included in a report by the Met Office and documents used to analyze benefit claims.
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The Department for Work and Pensions guidance, which was first established in 2010 to help doctors evaluate disability benefit claims, referred to Black people as being of the “N*****d race.” After the revelation was brought to the office of Rishi Sunak, who serves as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a spokesperson condemned the slur as “inappropriate and offensive.”
The spokesperson added that the office was “confident” that word did not appear in any other documents . However, it was seen in the comment section of a page on the government’s website since 2015. Ultimately, it was removed after it was pointed out by The Independent, which made the public question how the government reviews its site for racist words and phrases.
The Green Party Member of Parliament for England and Wales, Caroline Lucas, submitted a parliamentary question last week to the secretary of state for the Cabinet Office, insisting that both a statement and investigation be provided looking into official documents to make sure that no slurs are being used. Lucas requested:
“To ask the SoS Cabinet Office, with reference to the recently withdrawn DWP guidance on social security assessments containing racist terminology, if he will require all Government departments to assess the documents for which they are responsible to ensure that no other Government documents contain a) racist b) other prejudiced terms; and if he will make a statement.”
Both the Met Office and Department for Work and Pensions documents have been taken down. The former has apologized “for any offence caused.” The Department for Work and Pensions, on the other hand, has launched an internal inquiry into how the document existed for as long as it did.
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