Employees of the Scottish Parliament are not allowed to wear rainbow lanyards
In an effort to “minimize the risk of perceived bias,” all personalized lanyards and badges featuring social cause icons will be prohibited.
Only Holyrood personnel will be prohibited; MSPs and their staff are exempt.
On behalf of the cross-party group of MSPs responsible for overseeing Holyrood, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), led by Labour MSP Clare Baker, unveiled the policy on Thursday.
Tess White, a Tory MSP, questioned about claims that some persons have been ordered to take off insignia or apparel that is associated with social movements, like the suffragettes’ purple, white, and green colors.”Corporate body staff must conduct themselves in an impartial manner,” stated Ms. Baker.
As an update, employees of corporate bodies were previously permitted to use custom lanyards. As a component of the diversity inclusion plan, this was launched in 2017.
But the code of conduct has recently undergone a review.
It has been decided that all employees of the corporate body will need to wear the purple lanyard that the parliament has given.
“By making this choice, we hope to reduce the possibility of perceived bias and any perception that wearing such items could influence our own decision-making.”Employees may continue to wear pronoun-revealing badges and poppies, since Poppy Scotland is the only charity approved by the SPCB.
Holyrood’s head of people and culture Lorna Foreman wrote an email to colleagues on Wednesday informing them that groups had accused parliamentary staff members of being biased during policy debates because they wore emblems that might be interpreted as favoring one party.Wearing customized lanyards, pins, and badges to support campaigns and organizations, as well as social movements, has led some organizations and individuals to believe that the Scottish Parliamentary Service cannot be impartial when assisting the parliament in debating proposed legislation, government policy, and pressing societal issues.This choice will lessen the possibility of perceived bias and dispel any notion that our own decisions may be influenced by the things we wear.
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