'Woke' gender neutral toilet quota plan for £13bn Parliament revamp

Posted on 11/24/2022

Fury at ‘woke’ plan for gender neutral toilet quotas to be included in £13bn revamp of the Houses of Parliament so all staff ‘can be their authentic selves at work’

Report produced for the Restoration and Renewal programme at Parliament
Suggests unisex lavatories should make up 70 per cent of bathroom facilities
Ex-minister Jacob Rees-Mogg blasted ‘woke ideas from pointless committees’

MPs have reacted with anger at proposals to work minimum quotas for gender neutral toilets into a £13billion revamp of the Houses of Parliament.

A report produced for the Restoration and Renewal programme has suggested that unisex lavatories should make up at least 70 per cent of bathroom facilities in any new buildings erected in the coming decades.

In existing buildings on the parliamentary estate in Westminster they would have to constitute 10 per cent, according to ‘guidance for trans colleagues’ produced in 2019.

The joint report by the inclusion and diversity teams of the Commons and Lords said it would mean all staff ‘can be their authentic selves at work, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression’, according to the Telegraph.

A Parliamentary spokesman said the proposal was ‘under review’ and said any measures had to be done with the approval of MPs and peers.

But Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary and Commons Leader, told MailOnline: ‘Restoration and renewal is meant to be about restoring the fabric of the Palace of Westminster. This has been done spectacularly well for the Elizabeth Tower which is now restored and resplendent.

‘It is not about the latest woke ideas from pointless committees doing unnecessary jobs. Their salaries could be saved and devoted to some physical building works.’

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary and Commons Leader, told MailOnline: ‘Restoration and renewal … is not about the latest woke ideas from pointless committees doing unnecessary jobs. Their salaries could be saved and devoted to some physical building works.’

A UK Parliament spokesman said: ‘We continuously work to provide an inclusive working environment where everyone feels welcome, respected and valued. Across the Parliamentary Estate, there is a range of single-sex and gender neutral toilet facilities.

‘A range of design options for the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster are currently being looked at, and these will be presented to both Houses of Parliament in due course.

‘The figures quoted in the document were developed in 2019 as guidance only and are currently under review. Any final decision on future design requirements would need approval from Members through the appropriate governance channels in both Houses.’

The Restoration & Renewal Sponsor Body was set up in 2019 to oversee an Olympics-style delivery authority for the project, which has been beset by rows over how it should proceed.

The statutory organisation has a board including MPs, peers, historians and infrastructure experts.

At the end of last year it was revealed MPs and peers would be banished from the Palace of Westminster for 20 years under worst-case renovation plans that could cost £14 billion.

It would see parliamentarians ‘decanted’ into temporary premises for two decades years, based on the most intensive survey work yet on the crumbling 19th Century World Heritage Site.

However, a better case scenario is that MPs would be elsewhere for 12 years – still three times the original four-year estimate.

A decade ago a parliamentary report said the Palace of Westminster, built to replace a medieval complex that burnt down in 1834, was so ridden with fire-safety problems, leaking roofs and asbestos that if it ‘were not a listed building of the highest heritage value, its owners would probably be advised to demolish and rebuild’.

Rodents are also a familiar sight in many offices in the palace.

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