A government department is embroiled in a peculiar row over whether staff can wear ‘fetish gear’ to work following complaints from civil servants about a transgender colleague, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Employees in the Department for Work and Pensions are objecting to the ‘highly inappropriate’ workwear of a fellow official which last week prompted a Tory peer to ask the Government about its ‘policy on civil servants wearing fetish clothing in the workplace’.
It is understood that Baroness Jenkin of Kennington tabled the unusual question to reflect her general concerns about the dress code and also in response to the specific issues raised by civil servants about one Whitehall diversity ambassador.
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale, a trans woman who works for the DWP, has previously come under fire for saying that trans children’s demands for puberty blockers should take precedence over their ‘parents’ will’.
The civil servant, who co-chairs the Civil Service LGBT+ network, has also been criticised for linking women’s rights groups to the far-Right and suggesting they are calling for trans genocide
Colleagues of Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale (pictured), a trans woman who works for the DWP, have complained over her work attire, as she is known to wear fishnet tights, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic choker with a pentagram to work
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale (pictured) has previously come under fire for saying that trans children’s demands for puberty blockers should take precedence over their ‘parents’ will’
It is understood that Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (pictured) expressed her general concerns about the dress code at the DWP and also in response to the specific issues raised by civil servants about the Whitehall diversity ambassador
Now Tweedale, 58, is facing fresh controversy as fellow staff members say their colleague regularly wears fishnet tights, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic choker with a pentagram to work, which they have described as looking ‘almost like fetish gear’.
One well-placed source told the MoS: ‘At a stretch it looks like gothic evening wear but really it’s very strange. If you had a female member of staff coming into work everyday like that you would have to have a conversation.
‘If you worked in a bank or any office job you couldn’t wear that kind of stuff whether you’re a woman or a man, the sex is relevant really but it’s a highly inappropriate attire to wear.’
They added: ‘It’s taxpayer money that funds him and he’s representing civil servants. There is an expectation that people in their role represent their department and that they would look appropriate to that role.’
DWP staff are expected to dress in a professional and business-like way and any complaints about staff are subject to a review process.
It comes following a long-running dispute between the DWP and some civil servants after they wrote to the permanent secretary Peter Schofield in August 2023 warning of the ‘chilling effect’ of gender ideology and the ‘unlawful imposition of these beliefs throughout the department’.
Signage outside the entrance to Caxton House at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Tothill Street, London, SW1, England, UK
The letter, seen by this newspaper, says that they are made to feel ‘cruel, prejudiced and transphobic’ for not agreeing ‘that any man who says he is a woman is actually a woman’.
It adds: ‘Lesbians and women generally in the department are being silenced in the workplace and our rights are being undermined.’
The letter also raised issues with Tweedale specifically, who they claimed had ‘played a key role in the attempted ideological takeover’ of the department and ‘states that any disagreement with gender identity theory is far right, transphobic and exclusionary’.
One key concern was Tweedale’s apparent position as the National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues for DWP which the civil servant has advertised on online profiles and uses to give training on ‘trans issues’ throughout the Civil Service.
In response to the letter, the permanent secretary’s office confirmed in an email that ‘we do not have a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues for DWP role’.
Responding to their other concerns, the email said: ‘I can reassure you that my team and I work closely with Peter and our Departmental Diversity and Inclusion Champions to ensure that everyone in the workplace is treated with respect, regardless of differing backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives, and in line with our DWP Values.’
Last month Tweedale was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bradford in recognition of a career which has ‘helped people through trade unionism’ and also ‘her diversity and equality work’.
A DWP spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on individual staffing matters.’
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale was repeatedly approached for comment.
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