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You can't call that yob a yob, Met chief tells police
Last updated at 23:07pm on 01.10.06
Sir Ian Blair used the term 'yob' when he made a high-profile speech on BBC1 last November
Police are to be banned from using the word 'yob' in case they offend delinquents, it has emerged.
Scotland Yard chiefs have told staff to find a more polite way of referring to troublemakers.
The extraordinary edict - described by critics as 'pathetic' - has the backing of Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, often referred to as Britain's most politically-correct policeman.
It applies to all reports submitted by officers to the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the running of the capital's force.
The ban was imposed after the word 'yobs' cropped up in a report presented to members of the authority last week.
The document on Safer Neighbourhoods by Chief Superintendent Steve Bloomfield stated that Scotland Yard was "proactively tackling gangs and yobs across London".
Objecting to the phrase, Cindy Butts, the police authority's deputy chairman, told Sir Ian that the term was 'alienating'.
She added: "I have a problem with the language of 'yobs'. It sort of sets up and defines too much a 'self' and 'other'."
Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin agreed, saying: "I'm sorry about that. We won't use that again."
Afterwards Mr Godwin confirmed that the use of 'yobs' would not be repeated in Met documentation and was now officially banned.
He claimed the word could be taken as a slur on groups of lawabiding youngsters.
"It can reflect on groups of youths who congregate, rather than those who carry out criminal activity," he said. "We have to be careful because of the need to engage with young people."
Senior Met sources called the decision 'pathetic', pointing out that Sir Ian used the term himself when he broadcast on BBC1 last November.
Giving the BBC's annual Dimbleby lecture Sir Ian said: "Society is demanding answers and actions to deal with feral children, hoodies and yobs."
Richard Barnes, a Tory member of the Met police authority, hit out at the initiative.
He said: "We have to use words which are in common parlance, as long as they are not insulting.
"When we hear the word 'yobs' we all know what we're talking about."
Politicians are unlikely to follow the Met's lead in extending the boundaries of politically correctness-MPs on all sides frequently use the term 'yob', including Tony Blair who referred to yobs in the Commons in 2004.
The word is thought to have originated in mid-19th century London as a slang term for an uncouth blue collar individual or thug.
It derives from a back-slang reading of the word 'boy'. It was reversed to become 'yob'.
As the word spread into more general English usage, it was often extended to 'yobbo' and is now defined as a 'teenage hooligan or lout'.
Reader views (18)
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The only people we should feel sorry for are the cops on the street who are let down by senior officers who are even more obsessed with projecting a PC image than the other Blair and his cronies.
Yob isn't racist, sexist, religionist or any other 'ist' so for once we have term that can be employed without invoking the wrath of any law abiding minority - but now the cops can't use it even if the man on the street can!
But what do you expect in a legal backdrop where the perpetrator often has more rights than the victim. Pathetic.
- Ian Porter, Heathfield, Sussex
I bet Sir Ian lives in a nice quiet enclave and is well protected by police and not bothered with threatening behaviour everytime he goes out otherwise he too would be calling them yobs and scumbags. What hope has the poor copper on the street in dealing with these people when the top brass is so out of touch?
- Mitch, London
So Sir Ian
Next time (probably tomorrow) when someone is shot, I wait to see how you will describe the death. Externally inflicted Lead poisoning?
Loss of blood due to carelessly walking into a projectile? Or some simliar nonsense. Really, coppers' reports today must read like gobbldeygook.
- George, Istanbul
8°c
12°c
