Tory MP Mike Wood A Tory MP has been brutally slapped down after he tried to ban the word “gender” from government publications. Mike Wood raised the issue in a written parliamentary question to foreign secretary Yvette Cooper. The MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire asked if “she will make it her policy to reference ‘sex’ rather than ‘gender’ in future departmental publications”. Answering on Cooper’s behalf, Foreign Office minister Seema Malhotra said: “The department will continue to use the word ‘gender’ when it is appropriate to do so.” She then pointed out the many occasions on which Wood himself had used the word “with care and sensitivity” in the House of Commons. “In 2015, he talked movingly about his ambitions for his own young son and daughter, but said there was ‘far, far more to do if we are to eliminate the gender pay gap altogether and build the equal society that we all want’. “The following year, he talked with great moral clarity about the ‘gender inequalities’ and ‘gender-based violence’ facing young women affected by the conflict in Yemen. “In 2018 and 2019, he talked again about the ‘gender pay gap’, and in 2022, he praised the ‘almost identical gender balance’ in pub trade employment, an observation he repeated in 2024. “Finally, last year, he struck a chord with members across the House when talking about a close colleague and friend who had been affected by illness, stating: ‘Cancer does not care about politics. It does not care what background we come from, our age or gender, or what party we belong to. It strikes indiscriminately. It takes what it wants, and it leaves devastation in its wake’. “In all these cases, the use of the word ‘gender’ seems perfectly appropriate, and in some instances – such as ‘gender inequality’, ‘gender based violence’, and ‘gender pay gap’ – these are commonly-used and widely-understood terms, which it would make no sense to strike from our collective vocabulary. “I would therefore urge [him] to reflect on his proposal, and possibly have a conversation with his former self on the matter.” Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... Top Tory Humiliated With Brutal Makerfield Poll Putting Conservatives In Last Place 'The Conservative Party Is Over': Tory Shadow Minister Defects To Reform UK Tory Tory Can't Answer Painfully Easy Question About Conservatives In Wales