Scottish Parliament staff banned from wearing rainbow lanyards

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Scottish Parliament staff have been banned from wearing rainbow lanyards or badges, officers mentioned.

The transfer, which is able to see all personalised lanyards and badges referring to social causes banned, has been taken to “minimise the risk of perceived bias”.

The ban will solely apply to Holyrood staff, not MSPs and their workers.

Clare Baker, Labour MSP, introduced the coverage on Thursday on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), the cross-party group of MSPs tasked with managing Holyrood.

Tory MSP Tess White requested about stories of some folks being requested to take away badges or objects of clothes linked to social actions – such because the purple, white and inexperienced of the suffragettes.

Ms Baker mentioned: “Corporate body staff must conduct themselves in an impartial manner.

“As an update, corporate body staff have until recently been allowed to wear personalised lanyards. This was introduced in 2017 as part of diversity inclusion strategy.

“However, a review of the code of conduct has just been completed.

“A decision has been taken that all staff must wear the parliament-issued purple lanyard – staff who are employed by the corporate body.

“This decision will help to minimise the risk of perceived bias and avoid any perception that wearing such items may be influencing our own decision making.”

Staff will nonetheless be allowed to put on badges that present their pronouns, and poppies can nonetheless be worn as Poppy Scotland is the only charity recognised by the SPCB.

In an e mail to staff on Wednesday, Holyrood’s head for folks and tradition Lorna Foreman mentioned there had been accusations from teams that parliamentary staff couldn’t be neutral throughout debates on authorities coverage whereas sporting symbols which could possibly be perceived as supporting one aspect.

She mentioned: “Wearing personalised lanyards and/or pins and badges showing support for social movements and towards campaigns or organisations has led some organisations and individuals to consider that the Scottish parliamentary service cannot be impartial when supporting the parliament to debate government policy, proposed new laws and current significant societal issues.

“This decision will help to minimise the risk of perceived bias and avoid any perception that wearing such items may be influencing our own decision making.”