Transport for London proudly proclaims: “Our purpose is to keep London working and growing and make life in the city better. Every journey matters to us and we do all we can to make sure the transport network is safe, reliable and fit for the future.” To this end, it has produced a new style guide, offering advice for staff on what phrases to use or not, such as “staffed” rather than “manned”, “collision” rather than “accident” (not sure why, but let us pass on).
One diktat left me quite bemused. Staff are urged to “avoid referring to conflicts by name if possible” and, for example, to use “late 1940s” instead of “post Second World War”. How does TfL think it is right to overlook one of the most cataclysmic and traumatic events of the 20th century? Have we really become such a nation of milksops that we can’t face the tragic truth of history? I would urge the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to tell the TfL management to get a grip and deal with what matters most to its “customers” – getting to their destinations on time.
Talking of nonsensical decisions, what are we to make of goings-on at the Royal Mint? For 1,000 years, the monarch’s name has been inscribed in Latin on coins of the realm. No more. King Charles will no longer be Carolus, but Charles. Why? Because, says a Royal Mint panjandrum, it’s “to ensure it [the coinage] is accessible to a modern audience”. Since when have coins had to be accessible, for heaven’s sake? I don’t know anyone who reads coins, apart from those doughty souls who collect them. Most people count them, even hoard them in these straitened times. They don’t want accessibility but availability.
Email Jonathan.bouquet@observer.co.uk
• Jonathan Bouquet is an Observer columnist
